Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 4% - Should You Sell?

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $43.35 and last traded at $43.00. 943,520 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 2,016,394 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on KTOS. Noble Financial upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $54.00 price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.25.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 1.6%

The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 348.32 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $39.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.26.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $292.25 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.68% and a return on equity of 3.85%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $247,904.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 318,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,033,416.50. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.99, for a total transaction of $197,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 288,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,502,703.52. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 149,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,373,706 in the last three months. 2.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter valued at about $594,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 295,980 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $7,808,000 after buying an additional 44,048 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund bought a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the first quarter valued at about $1,039,000. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 27.4% during the first quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 38,690 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $1,149,000 after buying an additional 8,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 16.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 90,296 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,681,000 after buying an additional 12,638 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.