Short Interest in DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) Expands By 21.6%

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 26,920,000 shares, an increase of 21.6% from the January 31st total of 22,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,210,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Alan Wayne Ellingson sold 158,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $6,730,399.62. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 179,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,611,632.70. This trade represents a 46.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Matthew Kalish sold 210,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total value of $8,528,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,140,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,146,070.49. The trade was a 4.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,783,488 shares of company stock valued at $118,128,867 in the last ninety days. 51.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in DraftKings by 31,346.8% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,381,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,005,000 after acquiring an additional 9,352,019 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of DraftKings during the 4th quarter valued at $276,328,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in DraftKings by 110.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,617,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,569,000 after buying an additional 7,150,382 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new stake in DraftKings in the 4th quarter worth $246,765,000. Finally, Eminence Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of DraftKings in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,255,000. Institutional investors own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

DraftKings Stock Performance

Shares of DraftKings stock traded down $3.31 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $40.10. 10,627,458 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,532,190. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $42.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.97. DraftKings has a one year low of $28.69 and a one year high of $53.61.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.35). DraftKings had a negative return on equity of 48.13% and a negative net margin of 10.64%. On average, equities research analysts expect that DraftKings will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DKNG shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on DraftKings from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of DraftKings from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of DraftKings in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. TD Cowen cut their target price on DraftKings from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $59.00 price objective on DraftKings in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.44.

About DraftKings

DraftKings Inc operates as a digital sports entertainment and gaming company in the United States and internationally. It provides online sports betting and casino, daily fantasy sports, media, and other consumer products, as well as retails sportsbooks. The company also engages in the design and development of sports betting and casino gaming software for online and retail sportsbooks, and iGaming operators.