Zacks Research Upgrades DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) to Hold

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on DKNG. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of DraftKings in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of DraftKings from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of DraftKings from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Moffett Nathanson lowered shares of DraftKings from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of DraftKings from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, DraftKings presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.32.

DraftKings Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DKNG opened at $25.40 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.96. DraftKings has a 12 month low of $20.46 and a 12 month high of $48.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 423.33 and a beta of 1.67.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.07) earnings per share. DraftKings’s revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that DraftKings will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at DraftKings

In other DraftKings news, insider Paul Liberman sold 484,417 shares of DraftKings stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.16, for a total value of $12,187,931.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 213,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,374,100.52. The trade was a 69.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Woodrow Levin sold 34,234 shares of DraftKings stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $766,672.20. The trade was a 53.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 523,684 shares of company stock valued at $13,193,934. Company insiders own 47.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of DraftKings

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of DraftKings in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of DraftKings in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of DraftKings by 100.0% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of DraftKings in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new stake in shares of DraftKings in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.70% of the company’s stock.

DraftKings Company Profile

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.