Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Up 7.8% - Time to Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) traded up 7.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $25.84 and last traded at $25.67. 518,293 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 1,117,753 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, B. Riley cut Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.10.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 256.70 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.13.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.92% and a net margin of 0.89%. The firm had revenue of $300.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $276.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.05 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.41, for a total transaction of $134,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 285,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,407,131.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.41, for a total transaction of $134,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 285,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,407,131.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 6,603 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.88, for a total value of $164,282.64. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,848 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $593,338.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 76,091 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,101. Insiders own 2.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,972,406 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $256,813,000 after buying an additional 1,807,580 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 4,374,077 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $80,396,000 after buying an additional 511,538 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,190,639 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $83,855,000 after buying an additional 136,696 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 2,696,640 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $53,960,000 after purchasing an additional 139,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,531,476 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $50,655,000 after purchasing an additional 19,104 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc operates as a technology company that addresses the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company offers ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, and satellite; counter unmanned aircraft systems, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual and augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.

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