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

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) shares dropped 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $47.56 and last traded at $48.19. 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 Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.45, for a total value of $201,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,341,707.10. The trade was a 5.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.41.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a PE ratio of 283.47 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 5.63, a quick ratio of 5.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $55.44 and a 200-day moving average of $76.88.

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

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,446,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $337,565,000 after purchasing an additional 148,622 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,311,095 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $251,345,000 after purchasing an additional 124,607 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,046,194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $278,331,000 after purchasing an additional 209,189 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $247,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.6% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,072,700 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $189,383,000 after buying an additional 247,652 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.