Sterling Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in DraftKings Inc. $DKNG

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management sharply reduced its DraftKings stake by 95.3% in the first quarter, leaving it with just 3,431 shares worth about $74,000.
• Several DraftKings insiders sold shares recently, including R. Stanton Dodge and director Woodrow Levin, with total insider sales reaching 97,596 shares worth about $2.76 million over the past three months.
• DraftKings stock was up 1% to $27.17, while the company reported quarterly revenue of $1.65 billion, beating expectations, but EPS of $0.20 missed analyst estimates by $0.02.

Sterling Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG - Free Report) by 95.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,431 shares of the company's stock after selling 69,945 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in DraftKings were worth $74,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DKNG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of DraftKings by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,758,204 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,542,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354,457 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of DraftKings in the 4th quarter worth about $2,584,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in DraftKings by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 3,456,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,602,000 after buying an additional 348,333 shares during the period. Stableford Capital II LLC bought a new position in DraftKings during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,476,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in DraftKings by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,370,903 shares of the company's stock worth $150,621,000 after buying an additional 433,963 shares during the last quarter. 37.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at DraftKings

In other news, insider R Stanton Dodge sold 62,500 shares of the company'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 sale, the insider directly owned 556,258 shares in the company, valued at $16,509,737.44. This represents a 10.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 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 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 97,596 shares of company stock worth $2,756,991 in the last three months. 47.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

DraftKings Stock Up 1.0%

DraftKings stock opened at $27.17 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.53. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.46 and a 1-year high of $48.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 452.83 and a beta of 1.65.

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.63 billion. DraftKings had a return on equity of 13.51% and a net margin of 0.93%.The company's revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.07) EPS. On average, analysts predict that DraftKings Inc. will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on DKNG. Northland Securities set a $27.00 target price on shares of DraftKings in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of DraftKings in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Roth Capital raised DraftKings from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered DraftKings from a "hold" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded DraftKings from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, DraftKings presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.24.

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.

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