Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,842 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 5,100 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings 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 valued at $83,855,000 after purchasing an additional 136,696 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.8% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,531,476 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $50,655,000 after buying an additional 19,104 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 19.5% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 889,562 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $21,358,000 after buying an additional 145,462 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KTOS has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Truist Financial reissued 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 report on Thursday, September 26th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Friday, September 13th. B. Riley lowered 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 note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.40.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $26.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 272.40 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.61. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $16.71 and a one year high of $28.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $24.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.12, for a total value of $29,972.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 61,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,370,621.56. This represents a 2.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 6,603 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.88, for a total transaction of $164,282.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $593,338.24. This represents a 21.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 64,620 shares of company stock worth $1,542,160 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

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.