Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 4% Following Insider Selling

Key Points

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions shares fell by 4% following insider selling, with approximately 7.2 million shares traded on Friday, a 101% increase from average volume.
• Insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares at an average price of $102.81, reducing his ownership by 4.09% and retaining about $9.64 million in shares.
• Equities analysts generally maintain a favorable outlook on KTOS, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and price target estimates ranging significantly across firms, the highest being $105.00.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) was down 4% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $92.90 and last traded at $94.63. Approximately 7,245,697 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 101% from the average daily volume of 3,596,452 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.55.

Specifically, insider David M. Carter sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.81, for a total value of $411,240.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 93,809 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,644,503.29. The trade was a 4.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on KTOS shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Benchmark upped their price target 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. JMP Securities upped their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.14.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 4.0%

The stock has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a PE ratio of 946.39 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.55.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $351.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $305.67 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.10% and a net margin of 1.20%.Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rovida Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $82,315,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $488,332,000 after buying an additional 1,728,179 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter valued at $41,118,000. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 129.2% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,163,223 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $64,226,000 after buying an additional 1,219,585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $236,268,000 after buying an additional 1,162,577 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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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