Capital International Investors Acquires Shares of 305,916 Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• Capital International Investors bought 305,916 shares of Duolingo (~$98.46 million) in Q3 and owned about 0.67% of the company at quarter end, while institutional investors hold roughly 91.59% of the stock.
• Wall Street has sharply cut price targets (Goldman to $105, others near $100–$114) leaving an average analyst rating of Hold, even as Duolingo beat the quarter with EPS $0.91 (vs. $0.79 est.) and revenue up 35% year-over-year.
• Corporate insiders have been selling recently—14,939 shares worth $1.676 million over the last 90 days (including sales by Robert Meese and General Counsel Stephen C. Chen)—with insiders still owning about 15.67% of the company.

Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 305,916 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $98,456,000. Capital International Investors owned about 0.67% of Duolingo at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Duolingo by 3.5% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 940 shares of the company's stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Duolingo by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 818 shares of the company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych boosted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 220 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 929 shares of the company's stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Duolingo by 82.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 133 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In other news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.06, for a total value of $110,060.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 122,636 shares in the company, valued at $13,497,318.16. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.26, for a total transaction of $215,307.26. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 30,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,459,526.70. The trade was a 5.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 14,939 shares of company stock valued at $1,676,291 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 15.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUOL has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Duolingo from $250.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $100.00 price target (down from $300.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $101.00 price objective (down from $270.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Evercore reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duolingo presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $206.32.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of DUOL stock opened at $98.81 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $91.99 and a twelve month high of $544.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.90.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $282.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.95 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 39.91%.Duolingo's revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duolingo 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding DUOL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.