Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?
by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat GemKratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS – Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $57.30, but opened at $63.96. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions shares last traded at $64.3520, with a volume of 2,659,290 shares trading hands.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms recently commented on KTOS. Jefferies Financial Group set a $80.00 price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $99.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, BTIG Research cut their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.28.
Read Our Latest Research Report on KTOS
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 15.4%
The firm has a market capitalization of $12.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 386.66 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 5.08 and a current ratio of 5.63.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $371.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.00 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 2.82% and a net margin of 2.08%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $578,955.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 234,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,868,388.44. This represents a 2.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.59, for a total transaction of $487,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 358,023 shares in the company, valued at $24,914,820.57. The trade was a 1.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 154,540 shares of company stock valued at $11,689,165 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,600.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the period. Vision Retirement LLC boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 288.2% during the 1st quarter. Vision Retirement LLC now owns 427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% 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.
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