Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 5.5% – What’s Next?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS)’s stock price fell 5.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $46.31 and last traded at $46.96. Approximately 3,103,802 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 4,556,349 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KTOS. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $99.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.29.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

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 $8.63 billion, a PE ratio of 270.76 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $54.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.76.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released 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. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.08% and a return on equity of 2.82%. The business had revenue of $371.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonah Adelman sold 31,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.06, for a total value of $1,788,716.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,000 shares in the company, valued at $456,480. This represents a 79.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.23, for a total transaction of $2,038,050.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 309,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,998,136.01. This trade represents a 10.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 148,036 shares of company stock worth $8,455,857. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $296,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position 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 worth $3,623,000 after acquiring an additional 2,808 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd bought a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter worth $1,600,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 80.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 70,254 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,503,000 after purchasing an additional 31,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at $124,000. 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.