Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Reaches New 12-Month High After Strong Earnings

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $462.83 and last traded at $449.18, with a volume of 179914 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $400.00.

The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $230.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $223.15 million. Duolingo had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 11.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 37.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Duolingo in a research report on Friday, January 24th. They set a “hold” rating and a $370.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duolingo from $360.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $400.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Duolingo from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Duolingo from $275.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $422.50.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In other Duolingo news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 2,064 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $435.12, for a total transaction of $898,087.68. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 34,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,069,946.08. The trade was a 5.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.46, for a total transaction of $3,914,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 72 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,185.12. This trade represents a 99.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 109,868 shares of company stock worth $37,549,300. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duolingo

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUOL. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,994,000. Taika Capital LP bought a new position in Duolingo in the fourth quarter worth $2,697,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Duolingo during the fourth quarter valued at $429,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the 4th quarter valued at $784,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Duolingo by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 995 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duolingo Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $22.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 265.80 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $326.31 and its 200-day moving average is $336.50. The company has a current ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

About Duolingo

Duolingo, Inc operates as a mobile learning platform in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers courses in 40 different languages, including Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese through its Duolingo app. It also provides a digital English language proficiency assessment exam.