Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 4.8% – Should You Sell?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KTOS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $93.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $90.23 and a 200-day moving average of $79.93. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $17.39 billion, a PE ratio of 792.45 and a beta of 1.09.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $347.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.01 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 3.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.09, for a total transaction of $14,818,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,196,237 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,629,199.33. This trade represents a 14.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonah Adelman sold 30,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.80, for a total transaction of $2,244,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $699,230.40. This represents a 76.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 911,815 shares of company stock valued at $74,343,531. Corporate insiders own 2.37% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 115,325 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $8,754,000 after acquiring an additional 6,800 shares during the period. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $35,291,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 5,384 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares in 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 acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

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.