Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $31.16 and last traded at $30.74, with a volume of 1028241 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KTOS has been the topic of a number of research reports. B. Riley raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities upped 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. StockNews.com raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.30.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 327.63 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a current ratio of 3.22. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.01.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew 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 last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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.