Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 4% Following Insider Selling

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s stock price fell 4% during mid-day trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $92.90 and last traded at $94.63. 7,245,697 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 101% from the average session volume of 3,596,452 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.55.

Specifically, insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.81, for a total value of $411,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 93,809 shares in the company, valued at $9,644,503.29. This trade represents a 4.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on KTOS. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, August 8th. BTIG Research upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. B. Riley downgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $72.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.97. The stock has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 946.39 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a current ratio of 4.43.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 1.20%.The firm had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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. Research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $594,000. Corebridge Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 77,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $2,299,000 after buying an additional 3,860 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 98,033 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,552,000 after purchasing an additional 13,345 shares during the period. Trivium Point Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 22,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 4,483 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,407,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc 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.