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

DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders bought 126,727 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 210% compared to the average volume of 40,842 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DKNG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of DraftKings from $50.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of DraftKings from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of DraftKings from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of DraftKings in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of DraftKings from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.21.

DraftKings Stock Down 3.4%

DKNG opened at $29.00 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 483.33 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. DraftKings has a one year low of $20.46 and a one year high of $48.78.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. DraftKings had a net margin of 0.93% and a return on equity of 13.51%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.07) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that DraftKings will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Woodrow Levin sold 34,234 shares of DraftKings 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 sale, the director owned 29,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,672.20. The trade was a 53.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R Stanton Dodge sold 62,500 shares of DraftKings stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 556,258 shares in the company, valued at $16,509,737.44. This trade represents a 10.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 97,596 shares of company stock worth $2,756,991 in the last ninety days. 47.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DKNG. Viking Global Investors LP purchased a new position in shares of DraftKings during the 3rd quarter valued at $561,125,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of DraftKings by 181.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,626,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $641,867,000 after purchasing an additional 12,008,357 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of DraftKings by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 25,313,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $858,893,000 after acquiring an additional 8,524,923 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of DraftKings during the 4th quarter worth $284,466,000. Finally, Spruce House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of DraftKings by 129.6% during the 1st quarter. Spruce House Investment Management LLC now owns 9,650,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,633,000 after acquiring an additional 5,446,166 shares during the last quarter. 37.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

DraftKings News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting DraftKings this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DraftKings is drawing bullish attention after Oppenheimer reiterated a Buy rating, reinforcing optimism around the company’s growth outlook. DraftKings (DKNG) Receives a Buy from Oppenheimer
• Positive Sentiment: Investor enthusiasm picked up after DraftKings disclosed strong growth in its Predictions platform, with May volume reportedly surging and some articles calling it a potential new growth engine for the stock. Why DraftKings (DKNG) Stock Is Up Today
• Positive Sentiment: DraftKings also benefited from World Cup-related optimism, with analysts saying it could be a clear winner as sports betting activity rises during the tournament and marketing spend ramps up. Intel surges on rare double upgrade, DraftKings scores ahead of World Cup
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option buying and a strong weekly rally suggest traders are positioning for additional upside in DKNG. DKNG Bulls Are Eyeing A Breakout After Strongest Weekly Rally In 16 Months
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary notes DraftKings’ prediction-market business is growing quickly but is still relatively small versus larger rivals, so the long-term opportunity remains early-stage. DraftKings: Prediction Market Potential Is Becoming Clearer
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan cautioned that while May operating data showed progress, it does not yet point to immediate upside, which may temper some of the bullish momentum. DKNG Bulls Are Eyeing A Breakout After Strongest Weekly Rally In 16 Months

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.