Key Points
- Insider sold 4,000 shares: Director David Carter sold 4,000 KTOS shares on April 8 at an average price of $74.16 under a pre‑arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plan, trimming his holding by 4.88% to 78,051 shares (≈$5.79M).
- Material contract and analyst lift: Kratos won a U.S. Space Force award of about $446.8M viewed as potentially ~a third of fiscal‑2025 revenue, and several firms (Jefferies, Stifel, Cantor Fitzgerald) have raised ratings/targets, leaving a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $98.28 target.
- Operationally the company beat the quarter (EPS $0.18 vs $0.14; revenue up 21.9% YoY), but it trades at an extremely high P/E (~541x) and has shown volatility, signaling valuation risk despite growth catalysts.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) insider David Carter sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total value of $296,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 78,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,788,262.16. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ KTOS opened at $70.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 3.46 and a current ratio of 4.06. The firm has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 541.12 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $85.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.61. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.47 and a 52 week high of $134.00.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The aerospace company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $345.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.51 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a return on equity of 3.34% and a net margin of 1.63%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Trading of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $122,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 23,771 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 6,141 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,015 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $457,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Eos Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 83.1% during the 4th quarter. Eos Management L.P. now owns 15,021 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,140,000 after purchasing an additional 6,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,452 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 4,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
KTOS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $98.28.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on KTOS
Trending Headlines about Kratos Defense & Security Solutions
Here are the key news stories impacting Kratos Defense & Security Solutions this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Kratos won a large U.S. Space Force award (about $446.8M) to lead the Resilient Missile Warning & Tracking ground infrastructure program — a contract that strengthens Kratos’ role in missile tracking/hypersonic detection and meaningfully adds to backlog. Kratos Wins US$446.8m Space Force Deal
- Positive Sentiment: Coverage and contract momentum: Jefferies upgraded the name and Kratos also picked up new U.S. Navy solid-rocket motor work — both items support a positive growth narrative and investor confidence in defense/space revenue expansion. Valuation After Jefferies Upgrade & New U.S. Defense Contracts
- Positive Sentiment: Market headlines framed the Space Force award as material to 2025 revenue (reports suggested the deal could be roughly a third of fiscal‑2025 sales), which underpins near‑term revenue visibility and justifies part of the rally. Kratos bags contract worth a third of its fiscal 2025 revenue
- Neutral Sentiment: Sector backdrop: Industrials/defense have been outperforming recently, giving names like Kratos a favorable macro/regulatory tailwind — useful context but not company‑specific. 1 Industrials Stock to Consider
- Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data appears anomalous/unclear (reports show zero shares or NaN changes) and is unlikely to explain the move; treat that data point with caution.
- Negative Sentiment: Despite the contract wins, the stock has shown intraday weakness at times — analysts and investors point to profit‑taking, a recent strong run-up, and a high valuation (very elevated P/E) that can limit upside and make the name volatile. Why Kratos Defense Stock Is Slumping Today
About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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