Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Coverage Initiated at Wedbush

Investment analysts at Wedbush started coverage on shares of Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 3.85% from the stock’s previous close.

DUOL has been the topic of several other research reports. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Duolingo in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Duolingo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Duolingo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.17.

Duolingo Stock Up 3.8%

DUOL stock opened at $133.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.29. Duolingo has a fifty-two week low of $87.89 and a fifty-two week high of $468.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $291.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.60 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 38.44%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Duolingo will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total value of $224,606.97. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 52,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,999,403.27. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 173,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864. 16.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position 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 buying an additional 2,033,611 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 11,140 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position 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 worth $131,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,315 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Duolingo by 112.9% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,193,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,624,000 after acquiring 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.