Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Benchmark lifted their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. B. Riley raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $26.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $27.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.75.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of KTOS opened at $33.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 336.13 and a beta of 1.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1 year low of $17.91 and a 1 year high of $36.85. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.33.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The aerospace company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.03. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 3.68%. The company had revenue of $302.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other news, insider Steven S. Fendley sold 7,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.59, for a total transaction of $172,130.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 370,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,114,529.40. The trade was a 1.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Eric M. Demarco purchased 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.35 per share, with a total value of $250,325.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,267,482 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,398,150.70. This trade represents a 0.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 87,168 shares of company stock valued at $2,537,940 in the last quarter. 2.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Aspect Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,900.0% in the first quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 202.3% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,046 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is owned by 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.