Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Trading 3.3% Higher - Here's Why

Key Points

• Duolingo's stock experienced a 3.3% increase, trading at $310.96, despite a significant drop in trading volume, down 83% from average levels.
• Analyst ratings for Duolingo are mixed, with target prices varying widely; JMP Securities lowered theirs to $450, while KeyCorp set a more optimistic target of $460.
• Insiders have been selling stock recently, with CFO Matthew Skaruppa selling 10,937 shares, indicating potential internal concerns about the company's stock performance.

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) shares traded up 3.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $305.65 and last traded at $310.96. 189,585 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 1,146,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $301.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities lowered their target price on shares of Duolingo from $475.00 to $450.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Duolingo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Duolingo from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Argus began coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $575.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Duolingo from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $419.32.

Duolingo Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $323.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $378.13. The company has a market capitalization of $14.25 billion, a PE ratio of 128.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.85.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $240.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Natalie Glance sold 2,533 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.03, for a total value of $833,432.99. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 122,112 shares in the company, valued at $40,178,511.36. This represents a 2.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 10,937 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.39, for a total transaction of $3,471,294.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 43,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,757,269.55. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 80,508 shares of company stock valued at $26,605,621. Insiders own 15.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 110.5% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $307,716,000 after purchasing an additional 520,069 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the 2nd quarter worth $192,965,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Duolingo by 24.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,346,278 shares of the company's stock worth $418,073,000 after buying an additional 261,212 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 41,959.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 239,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,448,000 after purchasing an additional 239,167 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Duolingo by 105.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 415,221 shares of the company's stock worth $170,249,000 after purchasing an additional 213,529 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duolingo Company Profile

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.

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