Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.40.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KTOS shares. B. Riley downgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, September 13th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of KTOS opened at $28.61 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.60. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1-year low of $16.71 and a 1-year high of $30.39. The company has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 286.13 and a beta of 1.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total transaction of $137,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 273,881 shares in the company, valued at $6,288,307.76. This represents a 2.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP De Burgreen Maria Cervantes sold 19,528 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $585,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 51,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,533,630. The trade was a 27.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 104,886 shares of company stock valued at $2,809,800 in the last ninety days. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.2% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,246 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 230,059 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,603,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 4.9% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 41,976 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter valued at approximately $418,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 4.2% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 110,530 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

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.