Duolingo's (DUOL) "Neutral" Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Key Points

• Wedbush reaffirmed its “neutral” rating on Duolingo and set a $139 price target, implying about 5.93% upside from the prior close.
• Duolingo’s shares were up 2.2% and opened at $131.22; the stock has a market cap of about $6.11 billion and has traded between $87.89 and $468.00 over the past 52 weeks.
• The company recently reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $0.89 per share and revenue of $291.97 million, both ahead of estimates, while revenue rose 26.5% year over year.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reissued by analysts at Wedbush in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $139.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush's price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.93% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Duolingo from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research raised shares of Duolingo from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore set a $97.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duolingo has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $163.78.

Duolingo Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Duolingo stock opened at $131.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.88. Duolingo has a fifty-two week low of $87.89 and a fifty-two week high of $468.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.56.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $291.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $288.60 million. Duolingo had a net margin of 38.44% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Duolingo will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Duolingo news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total value of $159,267.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 170,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,150,759.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 173,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 9,506 shares of company stock worth $1,073,864 in the last three months. Company insiders own 16.62% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUOL. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Duolingo by 194.1% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 250 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. EFG International AG purchased a new position in Duolingo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Duolingo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in Duolingo by 51.1% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 340 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Duolingo in the second quarter worth $34,000. 91.59% of the stock is 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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