Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Short Interest Update

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) was the target of a large 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 daily volume of 2,870,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 4.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,739,860.70. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 8,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.14, for a total value of $234,408.18. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,215 shares in the company, valued at $331,515.10. This trade represents a 41.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 103,196 shares of company stock worth $2,962,300 in the last 90 days. 2.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,719,508 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $388,301,000 after purchasing an additional 701,216 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 307,907 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 29,278 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,130,109 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $82,576,000 after acquiring an additional 203,245 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $82,204,000 after acquiring an additional 317,305 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 1.3 %

KTOS opened at $29.30 on Wednesday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 12 month low of $17.05 and a 12 month high of $35.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.56. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 293.03 and a beta of 1.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on KTOS. 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 research report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.67.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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.