Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL Shares Bought by Peregrine Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Peregrine Capital increased its Duolingo stake 50.3% in Q4 to 129,515 shares (~$22.73M), and other large funds (Baillie Gifford, Dragoneer, Balyasny, AQR) also materially increased positions, leaving institutions owning about 91.6% of the stock.
• Company insiders sold 14,939 shares over the last quarter (including Natalie Glance and General Counsel Stephen Chen), and insiders currently own 15.67% of Duolingo.
• Duolingo beat quarterly estimates with $0.91 EPS vs. $0.79 expected and $282.9M revenue (up 35% YoY), yet the stock trades near $100.56 (market cap ≈ $4.65B) well below its 52‑week high of $544.93.

Peregrine Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 50.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,515 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,352 shares during the period. Duolingo makes up about 0.7% of Peregrine Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Duolingo worth $22,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUOL. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in Duolingo by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company's stock worth $853,184,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,611 shares during the last quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 324.4% in the third quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC now owns 1,580,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $508,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,346 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 22,970.4% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 415,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,650,000 after purchasing an additional 413,468 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 78.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 740,869 shares of the company's stock worth $238,441,000 after purchasing an additional 325,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the third quarter worth about $98,456,000. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,545 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.51, for a total value of $402,392.95. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 115,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,096,783.80. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,901 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.26, for a total value of $215,307.26. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 30,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,459,526.70. The trade was a 5.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,939 shares of company stock valued at $1,676,291. 15.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of Duolingo stock traded down $4.96 on Thursday, reaching $100.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 173,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,507,943. The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $168.03. Duolingo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.89 and a 52-week high of $544.93.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $282.87 million for 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%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DUOL shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Duolingo from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $100.00 price target (down from $300.00) on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Duolingo to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $206.16.

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.

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