Bank of Nova Scotia Reduces Stake in DraftKings Inc. $DKNG

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its stake in DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) by 57.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,495 shares of the company’s stock after selling 46,306 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in DraftKings were worth $746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DKNG. Viking Global Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of DraftKings during the 3rd quarter valued at about $561,125,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in DraftKings by 181.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,626,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $641,867,000 after purchasing an additional 12,008,357 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 8,524,923 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in DraftKings during the fourth quarter worth about $284,466,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in DraftKings by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 16,474,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,694,000 after purchasing an additional 4,788,337 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DKNG. Raymond James Financial raised shares of DraftKings from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on DraftKings from $31.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Roth Capital upgraded DraftKings from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on DraftKings in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered DraftKings from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.37.

DraftKings Stock Down 0.3%

DraftKings stock opened at $24.55 on Thursday. DraftKings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.46 and a fifty-two week high of $48.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.45. The company has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a PE ratio of 409.17 and a beta of 1.65.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.02). DraftKings had a net margin of 0.93% and a return on equity of 13.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.07) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that DraftKings Inc. will post 0.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider R Stanton Dodge sold 62,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Woodrow Levin sold 34,234 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.71, for a total transaction of $880,156.14. Following the sale, the director owned 29,820 shares in the company, valued at $766,672.20. This trade represents a 53.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,596 shares of company stock worth $2,756,991. 47.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.