Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) Research Coverage Started at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $99.00 price target on the aerospace company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, November 6th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday, January 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.06.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 3.0%

NASDAQ KTOS opened at $110.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $18.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 849.22 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a 12-month low of $23.90 and a 12-month high of $134.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.11.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.02. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.14% and a net margin of 1.56%.The company had revenue of $347.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.01 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

In other Kratos Defense & Security Solutions news, CEO Eric M. Demarco sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.09, for a total transaction of $14,818,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,196,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $88,629,199.33. This represents a 14.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Stacey G. Rock sold 16,568 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,487 shares in the company, valued at $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 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Rovida Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth $82,315,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,086,494 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $236,268,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162,577 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth $91,901,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,475,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Kratos Defense & Security Solutions News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reiterated a buy on KTOS, supporting investor confidence in the company’s growth trajectory and helping underpin demand for the shares. Goldman Sachs remains a buy on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS)
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and trade press are pointing to renewed U.S. defense priorities — a sector tailwind that benefits KTOS given its defense contracting exposure and could support higher government spending. 3 Stocks Positioned to Gain From Renewed U.S. Defense Priorities
• Positive Sentiment: Noble Financial raised its FY2026 EPS forecast for KTOS and keeps an Outperform rating — an earnings-upgrade signal that supports a constructive medium-term outlook. Noble Financial raises FY2026 EPS estimate for Kratos (MarketBeat summary)
• Neutral Sentiment: Noble also published a Q1 earnings estimate update — incremental analyst modeling that investors may use to refine near-term expectations but not a major directional catalyst by itself. Q1 Earnings Estimate for KTOS Issued By Noble Financial
• Neutral Sentiment: Piper Sandler initiated coverage of KTOS with a neutral rating (new coverage can increase attention and trading volume but signals neither clear buy nor sell). Piper Sandler initiates coverage of Kratos with neutral recommendation
• Neutral Sentiment: Separately, market commentary is reassessing KTOS valuation after its recent share-price run — useful context for investors sizing positions but not an immediate transaction trigger. Assessing Kratos Valuation After Recent Share Price Surge
• Negative Sentiment: Follow-up coverage noted Piper Sandler’s $99 price target, implying downside from current levels — a concrete figure that may cap upside in the near term and weigh on sentiment. Piper Sandler PT and notes on KTOS
• Negative Sentiment: Articles highlight stretched valuation and suggest options strategies as alternatives — commentary that can prompt profit-taking or caution among growth-oriented investors. Kratos Defense: Stretched Valuation (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Management remarks in Q4 were portrayed as weighing on sentiment in a fund manager letter — specific execution/communication issues can pressure short-term trading. Management remarks weighed on KTOS in Q4 (InsiderMonkey)

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.