DraftKings Director Shalom Meckenzie Continues Dumping Stock

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) board member Shalom Meckenzie continues selling shares of the sportsbook operator. The Israeli billionaire recently sold 660,000 shares of DraftKings in a series of four transactions at prices ranging from $59.96 to $62.80.

A Form 4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released late Tuesday indicates that the recent sales were made on Sept. 13,

Meckenzie hauled in $39.9 million via the latest sales, trimming his stake in Boston-based DraftKings by three percent. His latest divesture of the gaming company s shares comes about three months after he sold the same amount of DraftKings stock.

On June 14, Meckenzie sold 660,000 shares of DraftKings at an average price of $51.56, for proceeds of $34.02 million, according to data.

Meckenzie’s involvement with the company comes , an Israeli sports betting technology platform provider that came together last year with DraftKings in a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).  The transaction set the stage for the combined entity to go public as DraftKings.

While he maintains a board seat, Meckenzie is also an active seller of DraftKings stock. As of May 4, he held 22.38 million shares of the gaming operator s common stock, making him the largest individual owner of that share class. However, the new Form 4 filing indicates his stake is now 19.08 million shares.

On that basis, he s still the largest individual owner of DraftKings common stock and the third-largest owner overall behind fund issuers Vanguard and T. Rowe Price.

Meckenzie took some criticism for his June share sale. It was disclosed just a day before Hindenburg Research revealed a short position in the gaming stock while publishing a scathing research report on the DraftKings. In that report, the short seller alleges Meckenzie s SBTech operates in countries where it s not permitted to do so. It also reports that he is engaged in money laundering, and .

Hindenburg also alleges Meckenzie transferred a substantial amount of his DraftKings equity into his wife s name to avoid SEC reporting requirements when trimming that stake.

Shares of DraftKings are lower by 0.75 percent, but it s unlikely Meckenzie s share sale is the sole reason for that modest decline. Gaming equities are scuffling this week, and sports betting names are succumbing to some profit-taking.

Still, the arrival of football is viewed as a major catalyst for sports wagering stocks, including DraftKings. Some analysts forecast upside to third- and fourth-quarter revenue estimates for the group.

On Tuesday, Wells Fargo analyst Daniel Politzer with an “overweight” rating and a $73 price target, which is above the Wall Street consensus of $70.