Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 3.4% – Time to Sell?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) was down 3.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $46.01 and last traded at $46.32. 5,271,716 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 21% from the average session volume of 4,356,269 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Clear Str upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research decreased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on 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. Jefferies Financial Group set a $80.00 target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $99.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.35.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 1.9%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.54. The firm has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a PE ratio of 277.71 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 5.08.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $371.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.00 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 2.82% and a net margin of 2.08%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Jonah Adelman sold 31,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total value of $1,788,716.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $456,480. The trade was a 79.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William A. Hoglund sold 30,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.19, for a total transaction of $2,171,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 252,500 shares in the company, valued at $17,975,475. This represents a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 187,278 shares of company stock valued at $11,731,048. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $247,409,000 after buying an additional 2,525,921 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,701.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,593,549 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $120,966,000 after buying an additional 1,573,123 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $104,807,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,068,863 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $280,402,000 after acquiring an additional 698,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 66.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 556,036 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.