Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Down 11.6% – Here’s Why

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) shares dropped 11.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $86.92 and last traded at $91.33. Approximately 4,613,891 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 6% from the average daily volume of 4,355,476 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KTOS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. B. Riley increased their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 11.6%

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.24. The company has a quick ratio of 3.68, a current ratio of 4.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 702.59 and a beta of 1.09.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.18, for a total value of $201,421.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 63,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,618,570.74. The trade was a 2.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 341,631 shares in the company, valued at $36,885,899.07. This trade represents a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 911,815 shares of company stock worth $74,483,631. Insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,830 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,665 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,698 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 23,817 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,722 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

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.