Altshuler Shaham Ltd Acquires 242,743 Shares of Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• Altshuler Shaham Ltd dramatically increased its Duolingo stake in the fourth quarter, buying 242,743 additional shares and lifting its holdings to 243,330 shares worth about $42.7 million.
• Duolingo reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.89 beating estimates and revenue of $291.97 million topping forecasts; revenue also rose 26.5% year over year.
• Despite solid fundamentals, Wall Street remains cautious on DUOL, with analysts assigning an overall Hold rating and a consensus price target of $197.61, while some insiders recently sold shares for tax-related reasons.

Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its position in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 41,353.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 243,330 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 242,743 shares during the quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd owned 0.53% of Duolingo worth $42,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Duolingo by 31.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 259,666 shares of the company's stock worth $83,571,000 after purchasing an additional 62,614 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 967.3% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 48,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,746,000 after purchasing an additional 44,342 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $853,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,611 shares in the last quarter. Dream Peak Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Duolingo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,345,000. Finally, Capital International Investors bought a new position in shares of Duolingo in the third quarter valued at approximately $98,456,000. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duolingo Price Performance

NASDAQ:DUOL opened at $123.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. Duolingo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.89 and a 52-week high of $483.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $107.81 and a 200 day moving average of $128.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $291.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.60 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 38.44%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In related news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total transaction of $224,606.97. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 52,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,999,403.27. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Also, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total value of $159,267.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 170,745 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,150,759.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864. Company insiders own 16.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on DUOL. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Duolingo from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Evercore set a $97.00 price target on Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Truist Financial downgraded Duolingo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $197.61.

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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