Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Down 2.4% – What’s Next?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s share price traded down 2.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $92.66 and last traded at $93.04. 2,826,731 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 36% from the average session volume of 4,418,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on KTOS. KeyCorp increased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $80.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. JonesTrading initiated coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $79.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $17.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 715.75 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 4.06, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $100.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.18.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $345.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.51 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 1.63%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In related news, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total transaction of $16,106,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 796,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,120,965.61. The trade was a 20.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 16,568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.74, for a total transaction of $1,934,148.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 26,487 shares in the company, valued at $3,092,092.38. This represents a 38.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 550,763 shares of company stock worth $48,771,342. Insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 57.7% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 73,673 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $6,732,000 after purchasing an additional 26,946 shares during the period. Mission Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,828,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $19,048,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $21,013,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,922,000. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc (NASDAQ: KTOS) is a technology-driven company that specializes in national security and defense solutions for government and military customers. The firm’s core capabilities span unmanned systems, satellite communications, missile defense, cyber security, and directed-energy weapons. Through its integrated approach, Kratos delivers mission-critical products and services designed to enhance operational readiness and support force modernization initiatives.

In the unmanned systems arena, Kratos develops high-performance aerial platforms used as target drones, low-cost attritable aircraft and experimental stealth demonstrators.