Advisors Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS

Advisors Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 26.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 62,438 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $16,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rovida Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at $82,315,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $236,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,577 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,507,692 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $209,382,000 after acquiring an additional 818,104 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,370,085 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $110,090,000 after acquiring an additional 533,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Grand Managers LLC purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter worth about $23,225,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on KTOS. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $80.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. JonesTrading assumed coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, January 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial set a $135.00 target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.83.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.08, for a total value of $2,222,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 273,285 shares in the company, valued at $20,244,952.80. This trade represents a 9.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonah Adelman sold 30,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.80, for a total value of $2,244,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $699,230.40. This trade represents a 76.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 914,407 shares of company stock valued at $74,930,858 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of KTOS opened at $97.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 747.83 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.64. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.90 and a twelve month high of $134.00. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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.