Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Stock Price Down 5.8% – Should You Sell?

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL)’s share price dropped 5.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $156.65 and last traded at $156.1350. Approximately 1,827,737 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 9% from the average daily volume of 2,002,849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DUOL. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Duolingo from $425.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Bank of America raised Duolingo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $301.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Duolingo to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Duolingo in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $245.00 target price for the company. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.50.

Duolingo Trading Down 5.7%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.39. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $5.23. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.02% and a net margin of 40.03%.The firm had revenue of $271.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duolingo news, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.13, for a total transaction of $2,631,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 72 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,945.36. This trade represents a 99.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,514 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.87, for a total transaction of $266,267.18. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 31,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,547,291.54. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 53,169 shares of company stock valued at $11,605,151 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bryce Point Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $946,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 3.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,647,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,495,733,000 after buying an additional 116,135 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duolingo in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,377,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Duolingo by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 124,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,997,000 after acquiring an additional 18,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Duolingo by 117.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,811,000 after acquiring an additional 14,219 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Company Profile

Duolingo, Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) is a technology-driven education company that operates a widely used language-learning platform. Founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, Duolingo offers a freemium service featuring bite-sized lessons, gamified exercises and adaptive learning algorithms. The company’s core product is its mobile and web application, which supports instruction in more than 40 languages, ranging from widely spoken tongues such as English and Spanish to lesser-taught options including Irish and Swahili.

In addition to its flagship language courses, Duolingo has expanded its product suite to include the Duolingo English Test, an on-demand, computer-based English proficiency exam designed for academic and professional admissions.