DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) Short Interest Up 20.3% in December

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,620,000 shares, a growth of 20.3% from the December 15th total of 18,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider R Stanton Dodge sold 228,496 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.74, for a total value of $9,765,919.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 541,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,160,122.16. This represents a 29.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Liberman sold 88,441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.41, for a total transaction of $3,220,136.81. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,923,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,034,016.03. This trade represents a 4.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,052,183 shares of company stock worth $41,303,025. 48.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DraftKings

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of DraftKings in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in DraftKings in the third quarter valued at $46,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in DraftKings by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in DraftKings during the 3rd quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of DraftKings in the 2nd quarter worth about $87,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

DraftKings Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ DKNG traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.29. The company had a trading volume of 7,138,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,983,014. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.65 and its 200 day moving average is $37.97. The company has a market capitalization of $34.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.90. DraftKings has a fifty-two week low of $28.69 and a fifty-two week high of $49.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.60) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.12 billion. DraftKings had a negative net margin of 9.06% and a negative return on equity of 41.23%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that DraftKings will post -0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DKNG. Macquarie upped their price objective on DraftKings from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of DraftKings from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of DraftKings from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of DraftKings in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 target price on shares of DraftKings in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.08.

DraftKings Company Profile

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.