Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Down 2.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) were down 2.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $87.20 and last traded at $87.53. Approximately 2,746,469 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 39% from the average daily volume of 4,515,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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 note on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $79.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $100.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 4.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.35 billion, a PE ratio of 673.36 and a beta of 1.12.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $345.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.51 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.63% and a return on equity of 3.34%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 5,758 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.26, for a total transaction of $525,475.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 4,086 shares in the company, valued at $372,888.36. This represents a 58.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.36, for a total value of $341,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 81,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,996,447.04. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 574,731 shares of company stock worth $50,506,306. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,600.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc (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.