Creative Planning Raises Holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,665 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 14.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,972,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $256,813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807,580 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.2% during the first quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 4,374,077 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $80,396,000 after purchasing an additional 511,538 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,190,639 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $83,855,000 after purchasing an additional 136,696 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.5% during the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 2,696,640 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $53,960,000 after purchasing an additional 139,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.8% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,531,476 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $50,655,000 after purchasing an additional 19,104 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. B. Riley cut shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $25.00) on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, September 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.10.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 0.5 %

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $22.99 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $23.49 and its 200-day moving average is $21.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 3.13. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.71 and a 1 year high of $25.91. The company has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 328.43 and a beta of 1.02.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.05. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 3.92%. The firm had revenue of $300.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $276.08 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.05 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,423 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $60,575.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 59,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,325. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 2,423 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $60,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 59,453 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,325. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 3,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.09, for a total transaction of $70,315.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 276,091 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,546,668.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,091 shares of company stock valued at $1,739,101 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.27% 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.