Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Shares Down 6% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions shares fell by 6% during mid-day trading, dropping to $64.60 after previously closing at $68.74, with trading volume down 64% from the average.
• Despite the stock decline, analysts have mixed outlooks, with Benchmark raising its target price to $50 and others maintaining a "Buy" or "Strong Buy" rating.
• Kratos reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, with $0.11 EPS against an estimate of $0.09 and $351.50 million in revenue, marking a 17.1% year-over-year increase.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 6% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $64.53 and last traded at $64.60. 1,196,875 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 3,334,741 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KTOS. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, July 18th. One 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.64.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 4.43 and a quick ratio of 3.88. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $54.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 667.17 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 6,567 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $247,904.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 318,766 shares of the company's stock, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total value of $367,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 367,502 shares in the company, valued at $13,502,023.48. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,986 shares of company stock worth $3,946,088 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.37% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 17,431 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 1,791 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 89,329 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,356,000 after purchasing an additional 3,920 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 295,980 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $7,808,000 after purchasing an additional 44,048 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 435.3% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 943,638 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $24,893,000 after purchasing an additional 767,345 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 140.5% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,599,740 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $42,201,000 after purchasing an additional 934,455 shares during the period. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.