Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Purchases 934,455 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 140.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,599,740 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 934,455 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 1.06% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $42,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rovida Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $46,789,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,944,000. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 435.3% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 943,638 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $24,893,000 after acquiring an additional 767,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,719,508 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $388,301,000 after acquiring an additional 701,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $15,631,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KTOS traded up $0.92 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.42. 1,584,073 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,622,230. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.76 and a 52-week high of $35.66. The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 344.23 and a beta of 1.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KTOS. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JMP Securities reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total transaction of $40,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,639,214.16. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.88, for a total value of $131,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 106,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,515,069.28. This represents a 3.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,168 shares of company stock worth $2,293,480. Insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. It operates through the Kratos Government Solutions (KGS) and Unmanned Systems (US) segments. The KGS segment consists of an aggregation of KGS operating segments, including microwave electronic products, space, satellite and cyber, training solutions.