Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Invests $2.65 Million in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 53,063 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,646,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth approximately $53,746,000. American Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth $51,338,000. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth $740,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at $118,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $47.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 281.29 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.54 and a quick ratio of 4.99. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.09 and a 1 year high of $134.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.86.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,513 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total value of $97,391.81. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 61,976 shares in the company, valued at $3,989,395.12. The trade was a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.33, for a total transaction of $19,299,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 761,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,995,786.56. The trade was a 28.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 424,688 shares of company stock worth $26,435,542. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KTOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $82.00 in a report on Friday, June 12th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $105.00 price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $134.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.47.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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.