Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) SVP Sells $201,421.68 in Stock

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.18, for a total value of $201,421.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 63,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,618,570.74. This represents a 2.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Marie Mendoza also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 15th, Marie Mendoza sold 1,567 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.27, for a total value of $119,515.09.
• On Monday, November 17th, Marie Mendoza sold 1,408 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.09, for a total transaction of $101,502.72.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock traded up $6.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $130.72. 4,884,519 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,630,015. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $81.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.86. The stock has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,005.62 and a beta of 1.09. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.90 and a 12 month high of $132.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 3.68 and a current ratio of 4.30.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. will post 0.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 1,389.0% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,707,776 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $247,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525,921 shares during the last quarter. Rovida Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at about $82,315,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $236,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,577 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the third quarter worth approximately $91,901,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the second quarter worth approximately $37,475,000. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KTOS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $74.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock 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 set an “overweight” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.94.

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.