Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Sells 161,776 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC lessened its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 12.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,179,288 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 161,776 shares during the quarter. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions makes up approximately 1.2% of Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $89,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,830 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,665 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,698 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 37,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,868,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dupree Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 23,817 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $99.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.28.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.00, for a total value of $232,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 74,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,296,118. The trade was a 5.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.03, for a total value of $244,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,897 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,253.91. This trade represents a 18.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 168,027 shares of company stock valued at $13,312,040 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 5.0%

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $52.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.39 and a 200-day moving average of $83.05. The stock has a market cap of $9.77 billion, a PE ratio of 306.41 and a beta of 1.06. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.02 and a 52-week high of $134.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 5.08 and a current ratio of 5.63.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $371.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $345.00 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 2.82%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

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.