Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. $KTOS Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,701,765 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 150,244 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $190,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,446,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $337,565,000 after purchasing an additional 148,622 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,311,095 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $251,345,000 after purchasing an additional 124,607 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,046,194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $278,331,000 after buying an additional 209,189 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,072,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $189,383,000 after buying an additional 247,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,701.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,593,549 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $120,966,000 after buying an additional 1,573,123 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.29.

Key Kratos Defense & Security Solutions News

Here are the key news stories impacting Kratos Defense & Security Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Kratos won an approximately $156 million sole-source, single-award IDIQ contract from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Secure Transportation to supply mobile counter-unmanned aircraft systems for “Project Solar Shield,” a meaningful revenue boost and validation of its defense technology. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Several news items highlighted Kratos as one of the leading drone-defense and aerospace contractors, suggesting investors are focused on its exposure to rising global defense spending and growing demand for counter-drone systems. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst-style pieces compared KTOS with peers like L3Harris and Ondas, but these were more valuation and strategy debates than new company-specific catalysts. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: One valuation-focused article said Kratos looks fairly valued on cash flow but expensive on sales, which may temper some upside enthusiasm but does not change the core contract-driven momentum. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader defense-sector coverage pointed to strong drone demand across the industry, reinforcing the theme behind KTOS’s move rather than adding a separate catalyst. Article title

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 0.7%

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $47.89 on Thursday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.58 and a 52 week high of $134.00. The stock has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 281.71 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $53.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.14. The company has a current ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 5.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 2.82%. The business had revenue of $371.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $345.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.13, for a total transaction of $338,845.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 221,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,549,401.50. This trade represents a 2.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Jonah Adelman sold 31,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total value of $1,788,716.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at $456,480. This represents a 79.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,036 shares of company stock valued at $8,455,857. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.