Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on DUOL. Baird R W raised shares of Duolingo to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Duolingo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Duolingo from $375.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Duolingo from $515.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Duolingo from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $416.68.

Duolingo Stock Performance

Duolingo stock opened at $341.08 on Monday. 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 has a 1-year low of $256.63 and a 1-year high of $544.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 140.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average is $315.85 and its 200 day moving average is $380.44.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.94, for a total transaction of $2,889,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 72 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,803.68. This trade represents a 99.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,283 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total transaction of $1,025,280.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 116,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,280,203.30. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 83,791 shares of company stock worth $26,918,301. Corporate insiders own 15.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUOL. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Duolingo by 110.5% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,716,000 after acquiring an additional 520,069 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Duolingo during the second quarter valued at approximately $192,965,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Duolingo by 24.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,346,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,073,000 after acquiring an additional 261,212 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Duolingo by 105.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 415,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,249,000 after acquiring an additional 213,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its position in Duolingo by 248.5% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 211,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,655,000 after acquiring an additional 150,695 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

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.