BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 18,311 Shares of Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its Duolingo stake by 33.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 18,311 shares and ending with 36,647 shares valued at about $6.43 million.
• Other institutional investors were active in the stock as well, and 91.59% of Duolingo shares are owned by institutions.
• Duolingo reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $0.89 beating estimates and revenue rising 26.5% year over year, though analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $197.61 average price target.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its stake in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 33.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,647 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,311 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.08% of Duolingo worth $6,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Duolingo by 1,868.2% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 433 shares of the company's stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 123.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 87,556 shares of the company's stock worth $27,190,000 after buying an additional 48,451 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,021 shares of the company's stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 142.1% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 26,075 shares of the company's stock worth $10,352,000 after buying an additional 15,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Duolingo during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $205,000. 91.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In related news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 52,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,999,403.27. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total value of $381,662.40. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 173,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 have sold a total of 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 16.62% of the company's stock.

Duolingo Stock Performance

Shares of Duolingo stock opened at $117.86 on Wednesday. Duolingo, Inc. has a one year low of $87.89 and a one year high of $503.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.62.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. The business 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 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, research analysts anticipate that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Duolingo from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Duolingo from $250.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on Duolingo from $230.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Scotiabank restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $100.00 price target (down from $300.00) on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 price target (down from $270.00) on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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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