Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 229,472 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,164,826 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after acquiring an additional 229,472 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.16% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions worth $246,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,990,920 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $80,978,000 after purchasing an additional 195,615 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 849,947 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $12,766,000 after acquiring an additional 26,877 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,807,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 23.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 366,089 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,499,000 after buying an additional 68,566 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 257,433 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,223,000 after purchasing an additional 7,332 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JMP Securities started coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, BTIG Research initiated coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.50.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of KTOS opened at $20.01 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $20.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.06. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.13 and a 12-month high of $22.77. The company has a current ratio of 3.02, a quick ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.96 and a beta of 1.05.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $277.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.48 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a positive return on equity of 3.43%. The business’s revenue was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.09, for a total transaction of $147,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 384,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,101,934.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.91, for a total value of $131,460.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 303,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,658,646.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.09, for a total value of $147,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 384,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,101,934.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 159,720 shares of company stock worth $3,391,521 in the last ninety days. 2.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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.