Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Stock Rating Lowered by DA Davidson

Key Points

• Duolingo has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "neutral" rating by DA Davidson, with a new price target of $300, reduced from $500.
• In the recent quarterly earnings report, Duolingo exceeded expectations with an EPS of $0.91 and a revenue increase of 41.5% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own 91.59% of Duolingo's stock, indicating a strong backing from large financial entities.

DA Davidson lowered shares of Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $300.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $500.00.

DUOL has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Duolingo from $375.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities reduced 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 note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, August 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Duolingo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Finally, UBS Group reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $420.63.

Duolingo Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of DUOL traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $271.04. 2,202,448 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,086,874. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm's fifty day moving average is $345.97 and its 200-day moving average is $381.94. Duolingo has a 1 year low of $212.85 and a 1 year high of $544.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.85.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $240.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duolingo will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In other Duolingo news, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 10,937 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.39, for a total transaction of $3,471,294.43. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,757,269.55. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.55, for a total transaction of $2,685,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 72 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,335.60. The trade was a 99.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,508 shares of company stock valued at $28,428,221 over the last quarter. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUOL. Kiker Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Duolingo during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Duolingo in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 4,750.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 97 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.