Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $87.9444.

Several brokerages have issued reports on KTOS. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $74.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, December 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas set a $80.00 price target on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Kratos Defense & Security Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst momentum — KTOS received an analyst upgrade that drove positive headlines and upward price-target revisions, supporting buying interest. Article Title Price target story
• Positive Sentiment: New hypersonics manufacturing capacity — Kratos opened a 55,000 sq. ft. hypersonic system manufacturing facility, a tangible expansion of production capability that strengthens its position on next‑gen defense programs. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Defense spending tailwind — Analysts note Kratos could benefit from a proposed increase in U.S. defense budgets, which would boost demand for unmanned systems, hypersonics and other programs where Kratos has exposure. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent fundamentals — Last reported quarter (Nov) showed revenue and EPS beats with year‑over‑year revenue growth, which underpins the bullish analyst views but is already priced in to some extent.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — Director Scot B. Jarvis sold 5,000 shares at an average of $120.18 (≈$600,900). The sale trimmed his stake by ~4.5%. SEC filing: Jarvis filing
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,676 shares at about $120.18 (~$201,422), a ~2.6% reduction in her holdings. SEC filing: Mendoza filing
• Negative Sentiment: Insider sale — Insider Phillip D. Carrai sold 6,500 shares at an average of $123.30 (~$801,450), reducing his stake by ~2.9%. SEC filing: Carrai filing

Insider Activity

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, Director William A. Hoglund sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total value of $5,576,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 147,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,943,799.55. The trade was a 33.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 16,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.74, for a total value of $1,934,148.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,092,092.38. This represents a 38.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 911,815 shares of company stock worth $74,226,491 in the last three months. 2.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 190,481 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 35,098 shares in the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $791,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 64.4% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,315 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 178.0% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,570 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 2,286 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 11.7% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 393,614 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $11,686,000 after acquiring an additional 41,265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ KTOS opened at $130.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 4.30 and a quick ratio of 3.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.67. The company has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 1,005.62 and a beta of 1.09. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 1-year low of $23.90 and a 1-year high of $132.00.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $347.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.01 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 1.56% and a return on equity of 3.14%. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.