Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Trading 6% Higher - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) saw its stock price increase by 6% during recent trading, reaching a high of $89.95 before closing at $89.32.
• Analysts have mixed views on KTOS, with one rating it as a Strong Buy, twelve as Buy, and four as Hold, while its average target price is $77.36.
• In its last quarterly earnings report, Kratos reported an EPS of $0.11, exceeding estimates, with revenues of $351.50 million, a 17.1% increase year-over-year.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 6% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $89.95 and last traded at $89.32. 2,442,226 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 3,623,324 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTOS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Monday, August 11th. B. Riley lowered Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.36.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Up 6.0%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 893.29 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 3.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.02. The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.58, for a total transaction of $473,060.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 346,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,412,482.78. The trade was a 1.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.10, for a total value of $325,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 313,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,397,587.70. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 85,716 shares of company stock worth $6,399,245. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 129.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 893 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2,906.7% in the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 902 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.