New York State Teachers Retirement System Buys 40,440 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 59.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 108,525 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 40,440 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $9,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $236,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,577 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,507,692 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $209,382,000 after buying an additional 818,104 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 8.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,949,763 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $183,490,000 after buying an additional 301,135 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 18.1% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,837,005 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $131,779,000 after buying an additional 434,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.3% during the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 2,755,446 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $127,990,000 after buying an additional 324,140 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 16,568 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.74, for a total transaction of $1,934,148.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 26,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,092,092.38. This trade represents a 38.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 8,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.98, for a total transaction of $792,468.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,802 shares in the company, valued at $911,389.96. This trade represents a 46.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 898,639 shares of company stock worth $72,622,719 over the last three months. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on KTOS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $74.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Truist Financial set a $135.00 price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.94.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 1.5%

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $121.50 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $80.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.51. The company has a quick ratio of 3.68, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $20.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 934.69 and a beta of 1.09. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.90 and a twelve month high of $123.96.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.14% and a net margin of 1.56%.The company had revenue of $347.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc (NASDAQ: KTOS) is a technology-driven company that specializes in national security and defense solutions for government and military customers. The firm’s core capabilities span unmanned systems, satellite communications, missile defense, cyber security, and directed-energy weapons. Through its integrated approach, Kratos delivers mission-critical products and services designed to enhance operational readiness and support force modernization initiatives.

In the unmanned systems arena, Kratos develops high-performance aerial platforms used as target drones, low-cost attritable aircraft and experimental stealth demonstrators.