Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of DraftKings Call Options (NASDAQ:DKNG)

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 98,091 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 67% compared to the typical volume of 58,631 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on DraftKings from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Argus set a $60.00 target price on DraftKings in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on DraftKings from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of DraftKings in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of DraftKings in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, DraftKings currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.18.

Insider Transactions at DraftKings

In other news, insider Paul Liberman sold 643,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.95, for a total transaction of $25,070,323.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 682,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,593,657.80. This represents a 48.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R Stanton Dodge sold 52,777 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.04, for a total transaction of $1,796,529.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 549,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,694,665.88. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,681,079 shares of company stock valued at $112,941,617 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DraftKings

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DKNG. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of DraftKings by 31,346.8% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 9,381,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,005,000 after purchasing an additional 9,352,019 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of DraftKings during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $276,328,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in DraftKings by 110.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,617,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $506,569,000 after buying an additional 7,150,382 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in DraftKings during the 4th quarter valued at $246,765,000. Finally, Eminence Capital LP acquired a new position in DraftKings during the 4th quarter worth $65,255,000. 37.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

DraftKings Stock Performance

NASDAQ DKNG opened at $36.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. DraftKings has a fifty-two week low of $28.69 and a fifty-two week high of $53.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $35.48 and a 200-day moving average of $39.28. The stock has a market cap of $32.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.89.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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, analysts predict that DraftKings will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.