Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Insider Sells $455,460.00 in Stock

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) insider Phillip Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total transaction of $455,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 198,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,103,205.42. The trade was a 2.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 4.6%

KTOS traded down $3.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $69.77. 2,264,418 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,472,367. The firm has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 536.73 and a beta of 1.14. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.90 and a 12-month high of $112.57. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.19 and a 200 day moving average of $67.82.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $347.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.01 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 3.14%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KTOS. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. B. Riley cut shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BNP Paribas set a $80.00 target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.06.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $236,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,577 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.2% during the second quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,507,692 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $209,382,000 after purchasing an additional 818,104 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 8.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,949,763 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $183,490,000 after purchasing an additional 301,135 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 698,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,046,194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $278,331,000 after purchasing an additional 209,189 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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.