Insider Selling: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Insider Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) insider David Carter sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.40, for a total value of $349,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 77,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,801,992.40. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 10.7%

Shares of KTOS traded up $9.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.41. The company had a trading volume of 4,219,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,047,446. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $92.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.68 and a current ratio of 4.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 726.29 and a beta of 1.09. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.90 and a 52-week high of $134.00.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $323.01 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 3.14%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KTOS. Jones Trading began coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.28.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $247,409,000 after buying an additional 2,525,921 shares during the last quarter. Rovida Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth approximately $82,315,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $236,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,577 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at $91,901,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,475,000. 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.