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

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 72,788 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 71% compared to the typical volume of 42,619 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DKNG has been the subject of several research reports. HSBC upgraded DraftKings from a “hold” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Berenberg Bank set a $26.40 price target on DraftKings in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of DraftKings in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on DraftKings from $37.50 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of DraftKings in a report on Sunday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, DraftKings presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.32.

DraftKings Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of DKNG stock opened at $24.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.03. DraftKings has a twelve month low of $20.46 and a twelve month high of $48.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $23.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.81. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 408.83 and a beta of 1.67.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. DraftKings had a net margin of 0.93% and a return on equity of 13.51%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.07) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that DraftKings will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Erik Bradbury sold 2,883 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.56, for a total transaction of $70,806.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 38,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $937,406.08. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Woodrow Levin sold 34,234 shares of DraftKings stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total transaction of $880,156.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,820 shares in the company, valued at $766,672.20. This represents a 53.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 524,546 shares of company stock valued at $13,215,769 over the last ninety days. 47.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of DraftKings by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,758,204 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,542,368,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,457 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of DraftKings by 40.6% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,939,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,547,000 after buying an additional 560,139 shares in the last quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC acquired a new stake in DraftKings in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,492,000. Waycross Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of DraftKings in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,584,000. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of DraftKings by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 3,456,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,602,000 after purchasing an additional 348,333 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

About DraftKings

DraftKings Inc is a leading digital sports entertainment and gaming company specializing in daily fantasy sports, sports betting and iGaming products. The company provides an integrated platform where users can participate in daily fantasy contests, place wagers on professional sports events, and enjoy a range of online casino-style games. DraftKings’ proprietary technology supports real-time odds, live scoring and advanced analytics to enhance the user experience across mobile and desktop applications.

Founded in 2012 by co-founders Jason Robins, Matthew Kalish and Paul Liberman, DraftKings began as a daily fantasy sports provider and rapidly expanded into regulated sports betting following legislative changes in the United States.