Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Trading Up 8.9% – Here’s What Happened

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) shares rose 8.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $132.18 and last traded at $133.1760. Approximately 596,148 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 2,065,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Duolingo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wedbush assumed coverage on Duolingo in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duolingo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.29.

Duolingo Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $121.54 and its 200-day moving average is $116.39.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $291.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.60 million. Duolingo had a net margin of 38.44% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The business’s revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duolingo

In related news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total value of $159,267.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 170,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,150,759.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 173,401 shares in the company, valued at $19,696,619.59. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 9,506 shares of company stock worth $1,073,864 in the last three months. 16.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duolingo

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in Duolingo by 71.9% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,184,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,611 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 11,140 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 511.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,332,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,315 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 112.9% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,193,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,624,000 after purchasing an additional 632,807 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 0.5% during the 2nd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

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.