Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS Shares Sold by ARS Investment Partners LLC

ARS Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 76.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 124,540 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 413,365 shares during the quarter. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $9,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KTOS. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 193.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 408 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $80.00 price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.28.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total value of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 295,200 shares in the company, valued at $18,331,920. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.64, for a total value of $431,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 351,039 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,638,043.96. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 168,027 shares of company stock valued at $13,312,040 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

KTOS opened at $52.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 306.41 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 5.08. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.02 and a 1-year high of $134.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.05.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $371.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.00 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 2.82% and a net margin of 2.08%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company 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.