Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Down 3.6% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) dropped 3.6% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $79.28 and last traded at $79.3380. Approximately 316,348 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 3,448,188 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.30.

Specifically, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.53, for a total transaction of $16,106,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 796,237 shares in the company, valued at $64,120,965.61. The trade was a 20.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 8,549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.45, for a total transaction of $610,826.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,283 shares in the company, valued at $2,163,720.35. This represents a 22.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KTOS. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of 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. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.53.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $78.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.10. The stock has a market cap of $13.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 610.51 and a beta of 1.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $347.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.01 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.14% and a net margin of 1.56%.The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 98,033 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $4,552,000 after buying an additional 13,345 shares during the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 77,422 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $2,299,000 after purchasing an additional 3,860 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.2% in the second quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,507,692 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $209,382,000 after buying an additional 818,104 shares during the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 25.0% in the 2nd quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 22,406 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 4,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha Wealth Funds LLC bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $227,000. 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.