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

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) saw a significant 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 volume of 9,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

DraftKings Price Performance

DraftKings stock opened at $39.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a PE ratio of -37.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. DraftKings has a 12-month low of $28.69 and a 12-month high of $53.61.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that DraftKings will post 0.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at DraftKings

In related news, CFO Alan Wayne Ellingson sold 158,661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $6,730,399.62. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 179,435 shares in the company, valued at $7,611,632.70. This represents a 46.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul Liberman sold 532,095 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.30, for a total transaction of $20,379,238.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 68,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,629,448.20. This trade represents a 88.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,783,488 shares of company stock worth $118,128,867 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DKNG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of DraftKings in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of DraftKings from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up from $48.00) on shares of DraftKings in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of DraftKings from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of DraftKings from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Three 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.com, DraftKings has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.