Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Now Covered by Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price points to a potential upside of 29.07% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on KTOS. Weiss Ratings downgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.20.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ KTOS opened at $38.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.99, a current ratio of 5.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 227.88 and a beta of 1.11. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 12 month low of $37.84 and a 12 month high of $134.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.89.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $458.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.78, for a total value of $341,460.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 273,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,341,866.58. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.50, for a total value of $48,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 61,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,968,200. This represents a 1.61% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 382,013 shares of company stock valued at $23,856,842. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.2% in 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. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 48.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,056,872 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $74,520,000 after buying an additional 342,789 shares in the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $53,746,000. American Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter worth about $51,338,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 33.1% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 570,631 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $40,234,000 after buying an additional 142,000 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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.