Sunbelt Securities Inc. Increases Stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) by 42.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,302 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after buying an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions were worth $141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $461,000. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 295,980 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $7,808,000 after buying an additional 44,048 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 121.3% during the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,371 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 16,650 shares during the period. Finally, BXM Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $388,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. JMP Securities restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.75.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $36.01 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.18. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.91 and a 12 month high of $37.16. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 360.14 and a beta of 1.03.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 3.68%. The firm had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.25 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $526,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 263,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,932,241.39. This trade represents a 7.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Bobbi Doorenbos sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total transaction of $175,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $175,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 145,617 shares of company stock worth $4,658,171 in the last ninety days. 2.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. It operates through the Kratos Government Solutions (KGS) and Unmanned Systems (US) segments. The KGS segment consists of an aggregation of KGS operating segments, including microwave electronic products, space, satellite and cyber, training solutions.