Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 3% – Time to Sell?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) shares were down 3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $48.21 and last traded at $48.85. 3,192,448 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 4,579,452 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KTOS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $99.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $105.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.41.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 1.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.04 billion, a PE ratio of 283.47 and a beta of 1.07. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $55.44 and a 200-day moving average of $76.88.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The aerospace company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $371.00 million for 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%.The business’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonah Adelman sold 31,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total transaction of $1,788,716.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $456,480. This trade represents a 79.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.13, for a total transaction of $338,845.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 221,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,549,401.50. The trade was a 2.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 161,453 shares of company stock valued at $9,466,223. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $296,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 4.0% during the second quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 72,660 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,808 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,600,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 80.2% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 70,254 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $3,503,000 after buying an additional 31,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth $124,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.