Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday . Approximately 914,723 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the previous session’s volume of 1,261,298 shares.The stock last traded at $29.13 and had previously closed at $27.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KTOS. JMP Securities reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 6.9 %

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.51. 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 $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 292.67 and a beta of 1.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $41,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 55,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,555,442.76. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total transaction of $172,130.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 370,660 shares in the company, valued at $9,114,529.40. The trade was a 1.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,181 shares of company stock worth $3,256,346. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,719,508 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $388,301,000 after acquiring an additional 701,216 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,340,795 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $114,510,000 after acquiring an additional 307,907 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,556,544 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $82,883,000 after buying an additional 29,278 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,130,109 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $82,576,000 after purchasing an additional 203,245 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,116,164 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $82,204,000 after buying an additional 317,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

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.