Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 1.3% – What’s Next?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s share price fell 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $56.68 and last traded at $57.02. 3,817,746 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 12% from the average session volume of 4,355,327 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KTOS. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $99.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BTIG Research decreased their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.17.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 335.41 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 5.08, a current ratio of 5.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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

Insider Activity at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, Director Scot B. Jarvis sold 5,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.90, for a total transaction of $411,150.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 75,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,701,835.70. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.23, for a total value of $2,038,050.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 309,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,998,136.01. The trade was a 10.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 188,278 shares of company stock valued at $11,966,663 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,525,921 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,701.6% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,593,549 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $120,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $104,807,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth about $91,901,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 698,778 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.