Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 2.4% After Insider Selling

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s stock price fell 2.4% on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $33.35 and last traded at $33.91. Approximately 4,988,056 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 13% from the average daily volume of 4,416,963 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.75.

Specifically, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 14,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.85, for a total value of $473,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 274,176 shares in the company, valued at $9,280,857.60. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $60.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 10th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $135.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday, November 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $75.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.40.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 2.4%

The company has a current ratio of 5.42, a quick ratio of 4.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 282.58 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.59.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The aerospace company reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.34% and a return on equity of 3.18%. The business had revenue of $471.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $471.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue was up 35.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,930,588 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $295,867,000 after acquiring an additional 914,515 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,515,997 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $106,893,000 after buying an additional 164,607 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 26.7% during the third quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 2,032,469 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $86,766,000 after buying an additional 428,445 shares in the last quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 21,357.3% in the 3rd quarter. B&D White Capital Company LLC now owns 1,823,870 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $77,861,000 after buying an additional 1,815,370 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,664,120 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $71,041,000 after buying an additional 238,611 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is a defense technology company that develops products and services for U.S. government agencies, national security organizations, and allied governments. Its work spans unmanned systems, satellite communications, microwave electronics, command-and-control systems, and training and simulation. The company’s offerings include unmanned aerial vehicles and target drones, as well as systems and components used in space and satellite communications and other defense applications.