Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Duolingo currently has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold”, based on coverage from 22 research firms. The average 12-month price target is about $175.41.
• Recent analyst moves have been mixed, with some firms maintaining or raising ratings while others lowered price targets. Notable actions included Needham reiterating a buy rating and Morgan Stanley cutting its target to $95.
• The company recently reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $0.89 beating estimates and revenue rising 26.5% year over year. Insider selling was also noted, though institutional ownership remains high at 91.59%.

Shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the twenty-two research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $175.4118.

DUOL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Duolingo from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Zacks Research raised Duolingo from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In related news, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 173,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,696,619.59. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 1,977 shares of the company's 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 owned 52,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,999,403.27. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders have sold 9,506 shares of company stock worth $1,073,864 over the last quarter. 16.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUOL. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in Duolingo by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company's stock worth $853,184,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,611 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 511.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,332,301 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,315 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 632,807 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 1,715,575.9% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 497,546 shares of the company's stock worth $87,319,000 after purchasing an additional 497,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Duolingo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,159,000. Institutional investors own 91.59% of the company's stock.

Duolingo Stock Performance

Duolingo stock opened at $125.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.62. Duolingo has a 12 month low of $87.89 and a 12 month high of $468.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $113.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.01. The company has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.88.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. Duolingo had a net margin of 38.44% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The company had revenue of $291.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $288.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Duolingo will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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