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% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $64.53 and last traded at $64.60. 1,196,875 shares traded hands during 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

KTOS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark upped their target price 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. Truist Financial upped their target price 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $70.00 price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.64.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 5.8%

The company has a quick ratio of 3.88, a current ratio of 4.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 647.59 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $52.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.16.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.37, for a total value of $515,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 384,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,214,990.04. This represents a 3.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.16, for a total transaction of $252,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 276,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,639,743.60. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 101,786 shares of company stock worth $4,443,682. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 129.0% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 893 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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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