Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the twenty-five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $132.6471.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $146.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Duolingo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. DA Davidson raised Duolingo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Duolingo from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $103.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th.

Duolingo Stock Up 2.9%

DUOL opened at $146.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.87. Duolingo has a one year low of $87.89 and a one year high of $353.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $132.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $298.45 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $295.58 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 35.88%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Duolingo will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Natalie Glance sold 2,751 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.13, for a total value of $355,236.63. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 170,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,036,034.50. The trade was a 1.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.13, for a total transaction of $132,229.12. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 51,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,694,228.33. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,668 shares of company stock valued at $874,382. 16.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duolingo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 12,171.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,119,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,863,000 after purchasing an additional 5,077,935 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Duolingo by 511.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,332,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,325,000 after buying an additional 1,114,315 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Duolingo by 112.9% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,193,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,624,000 after buying an additional 632,807 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in Duolingo by 1,715,575.9% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 497,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,319,000 after buying an additional 497,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Duolingo during the 4th quarter valued at $86,159,000. 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.