Marie Mendoza Sells 1,500 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock

Key Points

• Marie Mendoza, SVP of Kratos, sold 1,500 shares on April 15 at an average price of $75.69 for $113,535, reducing her stake by 2.20% to 66,656 shares; the trade was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Kratos beat quarterly expectations on Feb. 23 with $0.18 EPS (vs. $0.14) and $345.1M revenue (up 21.9% YoY), yet the stock traded down to $70.99 and sits below its 50- and 200-day moving averages ($84.17 and $87.34).
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and a $98.28 price target, while several firms have raised targets into the $130–$135 range.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.69, for a total transaction of $113,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 66,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,045,192.64. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Marie Mendoza also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 16th, Marie Mendoza sold 1,516 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.97, for a total transaction of $134,878.52.
• On Tuesday, February 17th, Marie Mendoza sold 1,500 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.08, for a total transaction of $132,120.00.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock traded down $3.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,150,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,288,156. The company has a quick ratio of 3.46, a current ratio of 4.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $84.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.34. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.48 and a 12 month high of $134.00. The company has a market capitalization of $13.30 billion, a PE ratio of 546.12 and a beta of 1.22.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $345.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $327.51 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.63% and a return on equity of 3.34%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial set a $135.00 price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $99.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.28.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 3,830 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,665 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,698 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,918 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,945 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.92% of the company's stock.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc NASDAQ: KTOS is a technology-driven company that specializes in national security and defense solutions for government and military customers. The firm’s core capabilities span unmanned systems, satellite communications, missile defense, cyber security, and directed-energy weapons. Through its integrated approach, Kratos delivers mission-critical products and services designed to enhance operational readiness and support force modernization initiatives.

In the unmanned systems arena, Kratos develops high-performance aerial platforms used as target drones, low-cost attritable aircraft and experimental stealth demonstrators.

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