Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS)

Posted by Brian Himes on Oct 23rd, 2026

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS – Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 43,950 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 303% compared to the average daily volume of 10,902 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KTOS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $88.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upgraded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised Kratos Defense & Security Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.20.

Get Our Latest Research Report on KTOS

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Marie Mendoza sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.50, for a total transaction of $48,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 61,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,968,200. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Scot B. Jarvis sold 10,000 shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $635,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 65,123 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,135,310.50. This trade represents a 13.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 382,013 shares of company stock worth $23,856,842. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vision Retirement LLC raised its position in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 288.2% during the 1st quarter. Vision Retirement LLC now owns 427 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 427.0% in the 1st quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 527 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions by 333.3% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 650 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in Kratos Defense & Security Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 75.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ KTOS opened at $38.27 on Friday. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has a one year low of $37.40 and a one year high of $134.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.99 and a current ratio of 5.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.18 billion, a PE ratio of 80.71 and a beta of 1.11.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (NASDAQ:KTOS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $458.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $410.36 million. Kratos Defense & Security Solutions had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 3.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kratos Defense & Security Solutions will post 0.58 earnings per share for the current year.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

(Get Free Report)

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc is a technology and defense contractor that develops systems and products for national security applications. The company supports the U.S. Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, national security-related organizations and selected commercial customers, with an emphasis on affordable, rapidly deployable technologies.

Its offerings include unmanned aerial and target systems, hypersonic and high-speed systems, rocket and propulsion technologies, satellite communications equipment, microwave electronics, radar and missile-defense systems, electronic warfare solutions, command-and-control systems, and virtual and live training products.