Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 7.7% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) fell 7.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $57.50 and last traded at $58.52. 3,482,619 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 4,395,119 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KTOS. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Clear Str upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BTIG Research cut their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report 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. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 7.7%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.11 and a 200 day moving average of $80.72. 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 capitalization of $10.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 344.24 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Scott I. Anderson sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.11, for a total value of $1,336,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 51,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,574,372.74. This represents a 22.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director William A. Hoglund sold 30,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.19, for a total value of $2,171,295.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 252,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,975,475. The trade was a 10.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 183,564 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,304 in the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,446,230 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $337,565,000 after acquiring an additional 148,622 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,311,095 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $251,345,000 after acquiring an additional 124,607 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,068,863 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $280,402,000 after acquiring an additional 698,778 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,046,194 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $278,331,000 after acquiring an additional 209,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $247,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525,921 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.