Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 2.4% After Insider Selling

Key Points

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions experienced a 2.4% drop in share price after insiders sold significant amounts of stock, with one insider reducing their stake by 37.27% and another by 9.49%.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Kratos, with firms like B. Riley and BTIG Research issuing new price objectives of $72.00 and $80.00 respectively.
• In its latest earnings report, Kratos announced a 17.1% year-over-year revenue increase to $351.50 million and a quarterly EPS of $0.11, beating analyst estimates.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 2.4% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $61.40 and last traded at $62.09. Approximately 699,504 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 3,301,090 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.59.

Specifically, insider Thomas E. Iv Mills sold 5,758 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.54, for a total value of $377,379.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,692 shares in the company, valued at $635,213.68. This trade represents a 37.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.19, for a total value of $256,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,128 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,447,436.32. This represents a 9.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on KTOS. B. Riley reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $72.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Monday, August 11th. BTIG Research raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $57.64.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 1.3%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 625.33 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 1.20%.The company had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 9.0% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 122,379 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $5,685,000 after acquiring an additional 10,113 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.1% during the second quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $116,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the second quarter worth approximately $132,000. Caxton Associates LLP boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 30.4% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 16,030 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 34.8% in the 2nd quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 174,166 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $8,090,000 after acquiring an additional 44,996 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc engages in the provision of mission critical products, services and solutions for United States national security priorities. It operates through the Kratos Government Solutions (KGS) and Unmanned Systems (US) segments. The KGS segment consists of an aggregation of KGS operating segments, including microwave electronic products, space, satellite and cyber, training solutions.

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