Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Free Report) by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 889,562 shares of the aerospace company's stock after purchasing an additional 145,462 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.59% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $21,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 113.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 311,594 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,727,000 after buying an additional 165,356 shares during the period. Comerica Bank grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 627.9% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 49,636 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $912,000 after buying an additional 42,817 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.2% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 287,600 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,286,000 after buying an additional 33,500 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 14.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,972,406 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $256,813,000 after buying an additional 1,807,580 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 272.8% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 432,526 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $8,655,000 after buying an additional 316,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on KTOS. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Friday, September 13th. B. Riley lowered shares of 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. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $27.00 target price (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.10.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, CEO Eric M. Demarco bought 12,396 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.19 per share, with a total value of $250,275.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,058,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,366,350.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Eric M. Demarco bought 12,396 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.19 per share, with a total value of $250,275.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,058,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,366,350.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.07, for a total transaction of $27,194.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 63,393 shares in the company, valued at $1,272,297.51. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,091 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,101 over the last three months. 2.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of KTOS stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $23.19. The stock had a trading volume of 890,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,116,062. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.59. The company has a current ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.71 and a 12 month high of $25.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 331.29 and a beta of 1.02.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.05. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The company had revenue of $300.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $276.08 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.05 earnings per share. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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.