Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Buys 122,532 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 37.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 447,302 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122,532 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $19,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTOS. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,515,997 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $106,893,000 after purchasing an additional 164,607 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 48.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,056,872 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $74,520,000 after buying an additional 342,789 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth $53,746,000. American Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth $51,338,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 33.1% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 570,631 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $40,234,000 after buying an additional 142,000 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Friday, October 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.16, for a total transaction of $393,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 288,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,180,313.76. This represents a 2.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Phillip Carrai sold 26,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.25, for a total value of $1,676,125.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 182,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,516,813. This represents a 12.70% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 382,013 shares of company stock worth $23,856,842. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 0.5%

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $38.96 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a current ratio of 5.54. The firm has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.60 and a beta of 1.11. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.84 and a 1 year high of $134.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.09.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.07. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.07% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company had revenue of $458.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc is a technology and defense contractor that develops systems and products for national security applications. The company supports the U.S. Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, national security-related organizations and selected commercial customers, with an emphasis on affordable, rapidly deployable technologies.

Its offerings include unmanned aerial and target systems, hypersonic and high-speed systems, rocket and propulsion technologies, satellite communications equipment, microwave electronics, radar and missile-defense systems, electronic warfare solutions, command-and-control systems, and virtual and live training products.