Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 3.8% – Should You Sell?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s share price was down 3.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $88.64 and last traded at $88.96. Approximately 3,248,813 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 4,620,767 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KTOS. JonesTrading started coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 3.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 4.06. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.23. The stock has a market cap of $16.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 684.36 and a beta of 1.12.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.63% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The company had revenue of $345.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Scott I. Anderson sold 15,401 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.51, for a total transaction of $1,147,528.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 66,334 shares in the company, valued at $4,942,546.34. The trade was a 18.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 8,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.98, for a total value of $792,468.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,802 shares in the company, valued at $911,389.96. This trade represents a 46.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 574,731 shares of company stock valued at $50,506,306. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,600.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 385 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. 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.