Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading Down 4% - Here's Why

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTOS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Noble Financial raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.25.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 11.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 396.35 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average is $39.50 and its 200-day moving average is $33.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 2.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

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

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.43, for a total value of $181,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 46,243 shares in the company, valued at $2,100,819.49. This represents a 7.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.06, for a total transaction of $322,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 360,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,603,478.50. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 149,572 shares of company stock worth $5,373,706. Corporate insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KTOS. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 90.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,284 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,513,437 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $39,924,000 after purchasing an additional 14,588 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,729 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 11,708 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $1,156,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,807 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.

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.