Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $400.00 to $375.00. The stock had previously closed at $280.74, but opened at $267.79. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Duolingo shares last traded at $271.53, with a volume of 713,493 shares traded.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $475.00 to $450.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Argus initiated coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $575.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Duolingo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Duolingo from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Duolingo from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duolingo currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $419.32.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In other Duolingo news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,444 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.03, for a total transaction of $475,119.32. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 120,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,509,922.40. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 10,937 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.39, for a total value of $3,471,294.43. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,757,269.55. The trade was a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 80,508 shares of company stock worth $28,428,221. 15.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duolingo in the first quarter worth $3,772,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 39.0% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the first quarter valued at about $762,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 563.7% in the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 104,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,511,000 after acquiring an additional 88,918 shares during the period. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duolingo in the first quarter worth approximately $1,946,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 114.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $331.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $377.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.81.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.36. Duolingo had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 13.24%.The firm had revenue of $252.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

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.