DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) Short Interest Update

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) saw a large increase in short interest in 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 daily trading volume, of 9,210,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on DKNG shares. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on DraftKings from $55.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of DraftKings in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of DraftKings from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on DraftKings from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, DraftKings has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.44.

DraftKings Price Performance

Shares of DKNG opened at $40.10 on Friday. 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 has a 1-year low of $28.69 and a 1-year high of $53.61. The stock has a market cap of $19.65 billion, a PE ratio of -37.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 2.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.97.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last posted its 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 net margin of 10.64% and a negative return on equity of 48.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that DraftKings will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other DraftKings news, CFO Alan Wayne Ellingson sold 158,661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total value of $6,730,399.62. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 179,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,611,632.70. This represents a 46.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R Stanton Dodge sold 228,496 shares of DraftKings 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 transaction, the insider now owns 541,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,160,122.16. The trade was a 29.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,783,488 shares of company stock worth $118,128,867. 51.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DraftKings

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new stake in DraftKings during the 4th quarter worth $665,000. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of DraftKings during the fourth quarter worth about $243,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in DraftKings in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,728,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in DraftKings during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,822,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of DraftKings in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $94,000. 37.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.