Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Takes Position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 120,792 shares of the aerospace company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,186,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.08% of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KTOS. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 68.7% during the third quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,090 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.9% in the third quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC now owns 13,998 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 32,975 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 582.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 23.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,087 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KTOS shares. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.30.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KTOS opened at $33.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.61. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 333.73 and a beta of 1.07. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.71 and a 1-year high of $35.66.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $275.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $278.47 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.68% and a net margin of 1.31%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $41,940.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 55,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,555,442.76. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.16, for a total value of $232,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 365,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,118,686.76. This trade represents a 1.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 88,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,496,096. Insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions 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.