Short Interest in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Grows By 38.1%

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,030,000 shares, a growth of 38.1% from the February 28th total of 5,090,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 4.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total value of $526,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 263,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,932,241.39. This represents a 7.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.49, for a total value of $105,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 103,430 shares in the company, valued at $2,739,860.70. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,196 shares of company stock valued at $2,962,300 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,479 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,807 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 90.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,284 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 32,975 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $870,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on KTOS. JMP Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.67.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock opened at $29.30 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.56. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $17.05 and a fifty-two week high of $35.66. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 293.03 and a beta of 1.12.

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.