Short Interest in DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) Grows By 10.0%

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) saw a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,800,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the August 31st total of 23,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 9,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

DraftKings Stock Performance

DKNG traded down $0.95 on Tuesday, hitting $38.25. The company had a trading volume of 9,510,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,627,246. The stock has a market cap of $33.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.22 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.34. DraftKings has a 1-year low of $25.73 and a 1-year high of $49.57.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. DraftKings had a negative net margin of 9.45% and a negative return on equity of 43.11%. DraftKings’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.17) EPS. Equities analysts predict that DraftKings will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at DraftKings

In related news, insider Paul Liberman sold 643,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.24, for a total transaction of $26,544,290.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 137,308 shares in the company, valued at $5,662,581.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Paul Liberman sold 643,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.24, for a total transaction of $26,544,290.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 137,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,662,581.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jason Robins sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.25, for a total transaction of $7,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 2,678,082 shares in the company, valued at $94,402,390.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,195,301 shares of company stock valued at $45,355,362. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DraftKings

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of DraftKings by 53.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 9,410,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,196,000 after acquiring an additional 3,269,932 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of DraftKings by 148.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,235,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,284,000 after buying an additional 2,528,503 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of DraftKings in the fourth quarter valued at about $87,829,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in DraftKings by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,263,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,384,053,000 after buying an additional 2,225,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in DraftKings by 1,048.1% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,888,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,747,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,819 shares during the period. 37.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on DraftKings from $53.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on DraftKings from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of DraftKings from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of DraftKings in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $47.00 price target on shares of DraftKings in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.74.

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.