DraftKings Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:DKNG)

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 41,345 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 16% compared to the typical volume of 35,632 call options.

DraftKings Stock Performance

NASDAQ:DKNG traded down $1.86 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.75. 12,941,323 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,611,737. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.14. DraftKings has a 12 month low of $20.46 and a 12 month high of $48.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 360.40 and a beta of 1.66. 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 (NASDAQ:DKNG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). DraftKings had a return on equity of 13.51% and a net margin of 0.93%.The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.07) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that DraftKings will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other DraftKings news, Director Woodrow Levin sold 34,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total value of $880,156.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $766,672.20. The trade was a 53.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider R Stanton Dodge sold 62,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.68, for a total transaction of $1,855,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 556,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,509,737.44. This trade represents a 10.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 97,596 shares of company stock worth $2,756,991 in the last 90 days. 47.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of DraftKings

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Viking Global Investors LP bought a new position in shares of DraftKings during the 3rd quarter worth about $561,125,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of DraftKings by 181.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,626,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,867,000 after buying an additional 12,008,357 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in DraftKings by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 25,313,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $858,893,000 after buying an additional 8,524,923 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in DraftKings during the fourth quarter valued at about $284,466,000. Finally, Spruce House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in DraftKings by 129.6% during the first quarter. Spruce House Investment Management LLC now owns 9,650,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,633,000 after acquiring an additional 5,446,166 shares during the period. 37.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of DraftKings from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded DraftKings from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Mizuho raised their price objective on DraftKings from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on DraftKings from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on DraftKings from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, DraftKings currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $34.37.

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.