Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 3.3% – Here’s What Happened

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s stock price traded down 3.3% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $47.43 and last traded at $46.98. 488,787 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 4,305,692 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $99.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Wedbush initiated coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group set a $105.00 target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Guggenheim began coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, September 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 3.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 275.92 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.17. The company has a current ratio of 5.54, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.07. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.07% and a net margin of 2.03%.The firm had revenue of $458.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $410.36 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.16, for a total transaction of $393,120.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 288,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,180,313.76. The trade was a 2.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.50, for a total value of $48,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 61,200 shares in the company, valued at $2,968,200. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 389,188 shares of company stock valued at $24,294,682 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KTOS. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $337,565,000 after purchasing an additional 148,622 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.2% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,515,997 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $106,893,000 after buying an additional 164,607 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,458,084 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $110,683,000 after buying an additional 476,049 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 66.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,398,525 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $106,162,000 after acquiring an additional 556,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $104,807,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc is a technology company that develops products and systems for national security, defense and commercial applications. The company primarily serves the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies, while also supporting allied governments and selected commercial customers.

Its offerings include unmanned aerial and ground systems, target drones, tactical drones, satellite communications systems, space-related products, missile defense technology, hypersonic and high-speed systems, radar and command-and-control solutions, and microwave electronics.