Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Price Down 4.8% on Insider Selling

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s share price traded down 4.8% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $101.63 and last traded at $103.01. 3,641,869 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 4,419,868 shares. The stock had previously closed at $108.16.

Specifically, Director Scot B. Jarvis sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.28, for a total transaction of $591,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 100,417 shares in the company, valued at $11,877,322.76. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 341,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,885,899.07. This represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on KTOS. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 4.8%

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $90.91 and its 200-day moving average is $80.49. The company has a market capitalization of $17.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 792.45 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.68 and a current ratio of 4.30.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $323.01 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 115,325 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $8,754,000 after acquiring an additional 6,800 shares during the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,291,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 5,384 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,711 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by 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.