Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Down 6.6% on Insider Selling

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) traded down 6.6% during mid-day trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $94.77 and last traded at $96.16. 3,787,364 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 4,367,329 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.01.

Specifically, Director Scot B. Jarvis sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.28, for a total value of $591,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 100,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,877,322.76. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.97, for a total value of $755,790.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 341,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,885,899.07. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTOS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Noble Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $80.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Truist Financial set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, January 9th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 6.6%

The stock has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 739.75 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.93. The company has a quick ratio of 3.68, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 3.14%. The business had revenue of $347.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased 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 acquiring an additional 2,525,921 shares during the period. Rovida Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $82,315,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $236,268,000 after buying an additional 1,162,577 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth approximately $91,901,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter worth approximately $37,475,000. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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.