Insider Selling: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Director Sells 30,500 Shares of Stock

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Director William Hoglund sold 30,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.19, for a total value of $2,171,295.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 252,500 shares in the company, valued at $17,975,475. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

KTOS stock remained flat at $67.31 during midday trading on Friday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,343,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,947,955. The firm has a market cap of $12.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 517.81 and a beta of 1.22. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.78 and a fifty-two week high of $134.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.85. The company has a quick ratio of 3.46, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $247,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525,921 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,701.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,593,549 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $120,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,123 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $104,807,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth $91,901,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,068,863 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $280,402,000 after purchasing an additional 698,778 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on KTOS. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.28.

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.