Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Duolingo has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, amidst mixed sentiments from other analysts who continue to rate it as a "buy" with various target prices increasing.
• The company's recent earnings report showed a 41.5% revenue increase year-over-year, reporting $252.27 million, along with earnings per share of $0.91, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• Institutional investors own 91.59% of Duolingo's stock, with significant recent activity including increased stakes from various investment firms and insider selling totaling over $27 million in shares.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on DUOL. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Duolingo from $400.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Argus started coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $575.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Duolingo from $340.00 to $403.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duolingo from $375.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $451.35.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DUOL opened at $331.87 on Friday. Duolingo has a 12-month low of $202.38 and a 12-month high of $544.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.81, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 136.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.87. The company's fifty day moving average is $378.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $390.97.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $252.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Duolingo's revenue for the quarter was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Duolingo will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duolingo

In other news, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 2,797 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.03, for a total value of $920,296.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 52,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,407,003.12. The trade was a 5.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Robert Meese sold 1,444 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.03, for a total transaction of $475,119.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 120,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,509,922.40. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,056 shares of company stock worth $27,035,566 over the last three months. 15.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duolingo in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 43.6% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Duolingo in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 250.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 91 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 4,750.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 97 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.