Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL Stock Position Raised by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets significantly increased its stake in Duolingo, acquiring an additional 74,223 shares, bringing its total ownership to 104,165 shares valued at approximately $32.35 million.
• Duolingo reported a strong quarterly performance with earnings per share of $0.91, exceeding expectations and marking a 41.5% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Corporate insiders, including CFO Matthew Skaruppa, have sold a significant amount of stock recently, indicating potential shifts in insider confidence, with a total of 80,508 shares sold in the last quarter.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 247.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 104,165 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 74,223 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.23% of Duolingo worth $32,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Duolingo by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 153 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $914,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 24.4% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 313 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 90.1% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 135 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company's stock.

Duolingo Stock Down 3.5%

Duolingo stock traded down $9.82 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $272.70. 2,468,798 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,075,335. Duolingo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $204.00 and a 1 year high of $544.93. The firm has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 112.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.85. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $354.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $385.63.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $252.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 41.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.56, for a total value of $3,445,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 72 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,808.32. The trade was a 99.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Meese sold 1,444 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.03, for a total transaction of $475,119.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 120,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,509,922.40. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 70,508 shares of company stock worth $25,742,721. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DUOL. 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 report on Monday, August 18th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Duolingo from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $500.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Duolingo from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Monday, August 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duolingo from $375.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $439.59.

Duolingo 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.