Steven Fendley Sells 7,000 Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Stock

Key Points

• Steven Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos at an average price of $61.64 (totaling $431,480), reducing his stake by 1.96% to 351,039 shares; the sale was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
• Kratos beat quarterly expectations with $0.18 EPS (vs. $0.14 estimate) and revenue of $345.1M (up 21.9% YoY), and analysts project about $0.57 EPS for the current year.
• The stock traded down ~3.4% to $59.56 and sits below its 50- and 200-day moving averages; institutional investors own ~75.9% of shares and the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with a $98.28 price target.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) insider Steven Fendley sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.64, for a total value of $431,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 351,039 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,638,043.96. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS traded down $2.10 on Wednesday, hitting $59.56. 3,065,293 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,244,728. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.85 and a 52 week high of $134.00. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.31. The company has a market cap of $11.16 billion, a PE ratio of 458.19 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.04. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 1.63%.The firm had revenue of $345.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.51 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $247,409,000 after buying an additional 2,525,921 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 7,701.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,593,549 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $120,966,000 after buying an additional 1,573,123 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,807,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at about $91,901,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,068,863 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $280,402,000 after buying an additional 698,778 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KTOS shares. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $93.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.28.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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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