B. Riley Upgrades Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) to “Buy”

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) was upgraded by stock analysts at B. Riley from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $35.00 target price on the aerospace company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $26.00. B. Riley’s target price points to a potential upside of 6.84% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on KTOS. StockNews.com raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $22.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. JMP Securities lifted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up from $25.00) on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.30.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KTOS opened at $32.76 on Monday. 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 $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 327.63 and a beta of 1.07. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1 year low of $16.71 and a 1 year high of $33.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.01.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.96, for a total transaction of $115,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,267 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,658,452.32. The trade was a 6.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP De Burgreen Maria Cervantes sold 19,528 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $585,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 51,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,533,630. This trade represents a 27.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,928 shares of company stock worth $2,611,696 in the last quarter. 2.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 68.7% during the 3rd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,090 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.