Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Director James Shelton Buys 5,000 Shares

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) Director James Shelton acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $99.76 per share, with a total value of $498,800.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,632 shares in the company, valued at $960,888.32. This represents a 107.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Duolingo Price Performance

DUOL traded down $5.44 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $96.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,389,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,025,168. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.90. Duolingo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $91.99 and a 1 year high of $544.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 39.91%.The firm had revenue of $282.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.95 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on DUOL shares. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Duolingo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Duolingo from $230.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Duolingo from $250.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. DA Davidson cut their target price on Duolingo from $170.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duolingo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $206.32.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,184,000 after buying an additional 2,033,611 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duolingo by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,647,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,495,733,000 after acquiring an additional 116,135 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in Duolingo by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,241,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,362,000 after acquiring an additional 11,140 shares in the last quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Duolingo by 324.4% during the third quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC now owns 1,580,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,346 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Duolingo by 0.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,164,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,422,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Duolingo News

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company announced a $400 million buyback that signals management support for the share price and a focus on returning capital, which can help stabilize sentiment. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst pieces highlight a strategic shift: management is prioritizing free-user engagement and doubling daily active users (DAUs) to ~100M by 2028, which could boost long-term monetization but likely compresses near-term margins and makes FY2026 a transition year. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reports in early March show anomalies/zeros in public filings and therefore don’t provide clear directional pressure today; treat reported short-interest data as unreliable until clarified.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded DUOL from “hold” to “strong sell,” a headline-grade analyst action that can accelerate outflows and amplify selling pressure. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Two law firms (Pomerantz and Faruqi & Faruqi) issued investor alerts/investigations — potential litigation and associated costs create uncertainty and can weigh on the share price. Pomerantz Alert Faruqi Alert
• Negative Sentiment: Media and analyst commentary (Inc., Seeking Alpha pieces) emphasize that growth is decelerating, FY2026 guidance is a disappointment, and valuation still looks rich on forward metrics—these narratives pressure sentiment and could prolong selling. Inc. Coverage Seeking Alpha Valuation
• Negative Sentiment: New competitive entry: Google launched a language-learning tool, increasing competitive risk in the core market and potentially pressuring user acquisition and engagement economics. Marca Article

About Duolingo

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.