Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Price Down 1.8% – Should You Sell?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) fell 1.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $56.91 and last traded at $57.75. 4,619,507 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 6% from the average session volume of 4,360,002 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on KTOS. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $99.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.17.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 1.8%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 5.63 and a quick ratio of 5.08. The firm has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of 339.71 and a beta of 1.04.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 2.82%. The firm had revenue of $371.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.16, for a total value of $236,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 70,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,146,642.72. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.74, for a total value of $318,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 290,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,494,862.14. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 217,564 shares of company stock worth $14,576,994. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 143.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 35.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,243 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 2,671 shares during the last quarter. BankChampaign National Association purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter valued at $276,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 1st quarter worth about $119,000. Finally, Cim Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at about $236,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.