Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Shares Up 7.1% Following Insider Buying Activity

Key Points

• Director James H. Shelton bought 5,000 shares at an average price of $99.76 (~$498,800) on March 3, lifting his stake to 9,632 shares, and Duolingo shares jumped about 7.1% to as high as $104.12 on the news.
• Duolingo beat its latest quarter (EPS $0.91 vs $0.79; revenue $282.87M, +35% YoY), but analysts are mixed — Goldman cut its target to $105 (neutral) while the MarketBeat consensus remains a Hold with an average price target of $206.32.

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) shares shot up 7.1% on Thursday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock traded as high as $104.12 and last traded at $103.04. 2,570,637 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 15% from the average session volume of 3,011,770 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.17.

Specifically, Director James H. Shelton purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $99.76 per share, for a total transaction of $498,800.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at $960,888.32. This represents a 107.94% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DUOL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Duolingo from $250.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. UBS Group set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut Duolingo from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Duolingo from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $206.32.

Duolingo Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $219.04. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.90.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 39.91%.The business had revenue of $282.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $275.95 million. Duolingo's quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo in the 4th quarter valued at about $73,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Duolingo during the fourth quarter worth about $4,282,000. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC purchased a new position in Duolingo in the fourth quarter valued at about $333,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Duolingo by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,647 shares of the company's stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, Cim LLC lifted its position in shares of Duolingo by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 4,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duolingo Company Profile

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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