Insider Selling: Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS) CEO Sells 191,699 Shares of Stock

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) CEO Eric Demarco sold 191,699 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.28, for a total transaction of $17,306,585.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 687,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,032,922.76. The trade was a 21.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:KTOS traded up $2.00 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $91.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,903,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,975,709. The company has a current ratio of 4.30, a quick ratio of 3.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 707.21 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.84. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. has a one year low of $23.90 and a one year high of $112.57.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KTOS. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 21.4% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,552 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 3,799 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 22.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 190,481 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $5,655,000 after purchasing an additional 35,098 shares during the period. Amundi acquired a new stake in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $791,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 51.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 687,989 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $20,426,000 after buying an additional 233,703 shares in the last quarter. 75.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KTOS shares. BNP Paribas set a $80.00 price target on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $70.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kratos Defense & Security Solutions currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.53.

Key Stories Impacting Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

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

• Positive Sentiment: Jones Trading initiated coverage with a “buy” rating, providing fresh institutional analyst support that can attract buyers and lend momentum to the rally. Jones Trading Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Kratos announced program progress (EPOCH–OneSat milestone) and secured new defense contracts, which could boost near‑term revenue visibility and reinforce defense growth thesis for investors. EPOCH–OneSat Milestone & Contracts
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces explaining past performance (e.g., why KTOS rose ~95% in Q3) provide useful context on growth drivers and investor sentiment but are retrospective rather than direct catalysts. InsiderMonkey Q3 Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Eric M. DeMarco sold a large block — 191,699 shares on Jan 6 at an average ~$90.28 (and 8,301 shares on Jan 5 at ~$90.00). Combined, the filings show roughly 200,000 shares sold over two days, with the larger Jan 6 sale reported as a ~21.8% reduction in a particular holding; sizable insider sales can be perceived negatively by the market. SEC filing: CEO SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: CFO Deanna H. Lund sold 5,000 shares on Jan 2 at an average of $77.91, a modest reduction but another insider sale that adds to the negative signaling from management transactions. SEC filing: CFO SEC Filing

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Company Profile

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.