Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Down 3.7% After Insider Selling

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) dropped 3.7% on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $73.11 and last traded at $73.55. Approximately 1,219,740 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 3,292,752 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.35.

Specifically, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.82, for a total value of $412,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 258,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,760,583.86. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP De Burgreen Maria Cervantes sold 6,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.80, for a total transaction of $437,227.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 53,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,741,908.20. This represents a 10.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.45, for a total value of $97,785.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 61,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,301,941.35. This represents a 2.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, July 18th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.64.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 0.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a current ratio of 4.43. The company has a market capitalization of $12.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 757.48 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.81.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.20% and a return on equity of 3.10%. The company had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% in the 1st quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the period. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. It operates through the Kratos Government Solutions (KGS) and Unmanned Systems (US) segments. The KGS segment consists of an aggregation of KGS operating segments, including microwave electronic products, space, satellite and cyber, training solutions.