Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Down 3.3% – Here’s What Happened

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) was down 3.3% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $45.94 and last traded at $46.97. 6,093,730 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 40% from the average daily volume of 4,338,591 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $134.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.17. The company has a current ratio of 5.54, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 276.29 and a beta of 1.11.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.07. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 3.07%. The business had revenue of $458.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 30.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna Lund sold 5,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.85, for a total transaction of $264,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 285,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,083,654.25. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Scot B. Jarvis sold 10,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $635,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 65,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,135,310.50. This trade represents a 13.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 389,188 shares of company stock valued at $24,294,682 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 435.1% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 43,011 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,265,000 after acquiring an additional 34,973 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 245.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 601,674 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $45,673,000 after purchasing an additional 427,396 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter worth $34,842,000. Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth about $53,746,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 48.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,056,872 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $74,520,000 after buying an additional 342,789 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc is a technology company that develops products and systems for national security, defense and commercial applications. The company primarily serves the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies, while also supporting allied governments and selected commercial customers.

Its offerings include unmanned aerial and ground systems, target drones, tactical drones, satellite communications systems, space-related products, missile defense technology, hypersonic and high-speed systems, radar and command-and-control solutions, and microwave electronics.