Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock Rating Lowered by B. Riley

Key Points

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions was downgraded by B. Riley from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating, with a target price set at $105.00, reflecting a potential upside of 1.26%.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts have provided mixed ratings, with Stifel Nicolaus setting a new target price of $70.00 and JMP Securities increasing theirs to $105.00, indicating an overall "Moderate Buy" consensus rating.
• Insider trading was noted, with key executives selling shares, including a sale by CFO Deanna H. Lund amounting to a 1.60% decrease in her holdings, raising potential concerns about insider sentiment.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at B. Riley from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Finviz reports. They currently have a $105.00 target price on the aerospace company's stock. B. Riley's target price points to a potential upside of 1.26% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KTOS. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $54.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. 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. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.86.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

NASDAQ KTOS opened at $103.69 on Wednesday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 12 month low of $22.69 and a 12 month high of $104.71. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $17.50 billion, a PE ratio of 1,037.00 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $72.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.71.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 3,846 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.02, for a total value of $353,908.92. Following the transaction, the insider owned 34,202 shares in the company, valued at $3,147,268.04. This trade represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.03, for a total transaction of $460,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 308,069 shares in the company, valued at $28,351,590.07. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,276 shares of company stock worth $5,677,241 in the last 90 days. 2.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KTOS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,447,687 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $488,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728,179 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $236,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,577 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 4,507,692 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $209,382,000 after purchasing an additional 818,104 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,949,763 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $183,490,000 after purchasing an additional 301,135 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,837,005 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $131,779,000 after purchasing an additional 434,561 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.

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