DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) Short Interest Up 21.6% in February

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of DraftKings from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Macquarie lifted their price target on DraftKings from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of DraftKings from $44.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, BTIG Research set a $59.00 price objective on shares of DraftKings in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.44.

DraftKings Trading Down 7.6 %

Shares of DKNG stock traded down $3.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $40.10. 10,627,458 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,532,190. DraftKings has a 52-week low of $28.69 and a 52-week high of $53.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 2.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Matthew Kalish sold 210,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.61, for a total transaction of $8,528,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Alan Wayne Ellingson sold 158,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 179,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,611,632.70. The trade was a 46.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,783,488 shares of company stock worth $118,128,867. Corporate insiders own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DraftKings

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DKNG. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of DraftKings by 5.4% in the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 40,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 2,092 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of DraftKings by 51.6% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 378,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,826,000 after purchasing an additional 128,676 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of DraftKings by 54.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 131,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,820,000 after purchasing an additional 46,314 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in DraftKings by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 160,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,279,000 after buying an additional 11,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in DraftKings by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 57,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,251,000 after buying an additional 6,058 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

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.