Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Upgraded to "Hold" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Duolingo from a "strong sell" to a "hold," and the consensus analyst rating is Hold with an average 12‑month target price of $206.16 (4 Buys, 17 Holds, 2 Sells).
• Duolingo beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.91 versus $0.79 and revenue of $282.87M (up 35% year‑over‑year); the stock trades around $106.82, has a $5.02B market cap and a P/E of 12.54.
• Insiders have recently sold shares (about 14,939 shares worth roughly $1.68M in the past 90 days), while major institutional investors such as Baillie Gifford and Capital World Investors maintain large positions.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

DUOL has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $100.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Duolingo from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Duolingo from $230.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Evercore restated a "hold" rating and set a $114.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $206.16.

Duolingo Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of DUOL stock opened at $106.82 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $100.47 and its 200 day moving average is $160.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.89. Duolingo has a 12-month low of $87.89 and a 12-month high of $544.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $282.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $275.95 million. Duolingo had a net margin of 39.91% and a return on equity of 14.88%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Duolingo will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duolingo news, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,545 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.51, for a total value of $402,392.95. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 115,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,096,783.80. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Robert Meese sold 1,000 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.06, for a total transaction of $110,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 122,636 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,497,318.16. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 14,939 shares of company stock worth $1,676,291 in the last 90 days. 15.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duolingo

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company's stock worth $853,184,000 after buying an additional 2,033,611 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,241,378 shares of the company's stock worth $393,362,000 after buying an additional 11,140 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,164,387 shares of the company's stock worth $477,422,000 after buying an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 876,646 shares of the company's stock worth $153,851,000 after buying an additional 8,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 811,809 shares of the company's stock worth $142,501,000 after buying an additional 19,698 shares during the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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