Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Gap Up to $17.28

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $17.28, but opened at $18.80. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions shares last traded at $18.96, with a volume of 503,381 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KTOS. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.42. The company has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of -315.95 and a beta of 0.80.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $273.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $253.39 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a positive return on equity of 3.01% and a negative net margin of 0.86%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.18, for a total value of $27,270.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 67,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,218,605.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.18, for a total value of $27,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,218,605.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.00, for a total value of $120,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 214,765 shares in the company, valued at $4,295,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,538 shares of company stock valued at $763,479 in the last 90 days. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the third quarter valued at about $36,937,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 56.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,026,556 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $45,459,000 after buying an additional 1,091,380 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 74.2% during the third quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC now owns 2,413,270 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $36,247,000 after buying an additional 1,027,715 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5,354.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 726,759 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $10,916,000 after buying an additional 713,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 39.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,550,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $23,291,000 after acquiring an additional 435,654 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc operates as a technology company that addresses the defense, national security, and commercial markets. It operates through two segments, Kratos Government Solutions and Unmanned Systems. The company offers ground systems for satellites and space vehicles, including software for command and control, telemetry, and tracking and control; jet-powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles, and rocket systems; propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering munitions, supersonic systems, spacecraft, and launch systems; command, control, communication, computing, combat, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance; and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile defense, space, and satellite; counter unmanned aircraft systems, directed energy, communication and other systems, and virtual and augmented reality training systems for the warfighter.