Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Down 1.4% on Insider Selling

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) shares dropped 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $47.56 and last traded at $48.19. Approximately 2,369,803 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 4,567,568 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.85.

Specifically, insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.45, for a total value of $201,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,341,707.10. This trade represents a 5.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KTOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.41.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 1.4%

The firm has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 283.47 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $55.44 and its 200 day moving average is $76.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 5.08 and a current ratio of 5.63.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $371.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $345.00 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 2.82%. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,830 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,665 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,698 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,918 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,945 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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.