Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) CFO Deanna Lund Sells 5,000 Shares

Key Points

• Deanna Lund, Kratos' CFO, sold 5,000 shares on May 1 at an average price of $62.10 for $310,500 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing her stake by 1.67% to 295,200 shares as disclosed in an SEC filing.
• Kratos beat quarterly expectations (EPS $0.18 vs. $0.14) with revenue up 21.9% year-over-year, but the stock trades near $59.31 while analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $98.28 target and institutional investors own about 75.9% of the shares.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) CFO Deanna Lund sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.10, for a total transaction of $310,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 295,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,331,920. This trade represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ:KTOS traded down $2.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.31. The stock had a trading volume of 4,255,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,199,375. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 456.27 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.79. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $32.85 and a one year high of $134.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 4.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $345.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.51 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.63% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,446,230 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $337,565,000 after buying an additional 148,622 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,311,095 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $251,345,000 after purchasing an additional 124,607 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.5% in the 3rd 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. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,046,194 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $278,331,000 after purchasing an additional 209,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% in the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on KTOS. Truist Financial raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Clear Str raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, B. Riley Financial raised their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.28.

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.

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