Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 2.6% After Insider Selling

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) shares traded down 2.6% during trading on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $46.34 and last traded at $46.96. Approximately 3,507,836 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average daily volume of 4,551,453 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.19.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTOS has been the subject of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $99.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Clear Str upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.41.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 2.6%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $55.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 5.08. The company has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 276.24 and a beta of 1.07.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its 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. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 2.82%. The business had revenue of $371.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTOS. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $247,409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,921 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $120,966,000 after buying an additional 1,573,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,807,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,398,525 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $106,162,000 after buying an additional 556,036 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,458,084 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $110,683,000 after acquiring an additional 476,049 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.