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

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $58.78, but opened at $55.83. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions shares last traded at $55.38, with a volume of 1,931,861 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTOS has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. 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 on the stock in a report on Monday, June 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, July 18th. 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 research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.08.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 1.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 2.26. The company has a market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 460.85 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.39.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonah Adelman sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.76, for a total transaction of $1,350,400.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 39,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,328,388.48. This represents a 50.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric M. Demarco purchased 7,455 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $33.59 per share, for a total transaction of $250,413.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,396,237 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,899,600.83. This represents a 0.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 151,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,586,226 in the last ninety days. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Red Mountain Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 10,500 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,432 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,888 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 12,449 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 8,975 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by 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.