Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $39.96 and last traded at $38.91, with a volume of 791554 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $38.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.75.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 2.6%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 401.04 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.81 and a 200-day moving average of $30.69.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $302.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.25 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.68% and a net margin of 1.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, Director Bobbi Doorenbos sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $175,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Bradley L. Boyd sold 3,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.88, for a total transaction of $132,544.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,662.40. This represents a 28.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 151,184 shares of company stock worth $5,149,125. Company insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.1% during the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,888 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.8% during the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 12,449 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.6% during the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 8,975 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. It operates through the Kratos Government Solutions (KGS) and Unmanned Systems (US) segments. The KGS segment consists of an aggregation of KGS operating segments, including microwave electronic products, space, satellite and cyber, training solutions.