Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Gap Up to $17.28

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $17.28, but opened at $18.80. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions shares last traded at $18.96, with a volume of 503,381 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KTOS has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $18.17 and a 200 day moving average of $18.42. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -315.95 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $273.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $253.39 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a positive return on equity of 3.01% and a negative net margin of 0.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.05, for a total value of $27,075.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 90,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,637,369.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 3,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.87, for a total transaction of $73,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 223,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,656,743.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.05, for a total transaction of $27,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 90,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,637,369.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,538 shares of company stock valued at $763,479 over the last ninety days. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth approximately $36,937,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 56.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,026,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $45,459,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,380 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 74.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 2,413,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $36,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,715 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5,354.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 726,759 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $10,916,000 after acquiring an additional 713,435 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 39.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,550,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $23,291,000 after purchasing an additional 435,654 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

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.