Aperture Investors LLC Trims Holdings in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• Aperture Investors LLC decreased its stake in Duolingo, Inc. by 26.6%, now holding 48,572 shares valued at approximately $15 million.
• Insiders at Duolingo have sold a total of 80,508 shares worth about $31 million in the past three months, with insiders owning 15.67% of the stock.
• Wall Street analysts generally have a positive outlook on Duolingo, with an average target price of $451.35 and ratings indicating a "Moderate Buy."

Aperture Investors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 26.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,572 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,643 shares during the period. Duolingo makes up approximately 1.9% of Aperture Investors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Aperture Investors LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Duolingo worth $15,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DUOL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 101,609 shares of the company's stock worth $32,946,000 after acquiring an additional 5,910 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 250.0% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 91 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 296,457 shares of the company's stock worth $96,120,000 after acquiring an additional 46,442 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,104 shares of the company's stock worth $3,276,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 90,103 shares of the company's stock worth $29,117,000 after acquiring an additional 924 shares in the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duolingo Stock Down 2.6%

DUOL stock traded down $7.88 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $289.98. 1,460,452 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,062,832. Duolingo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $202.44 and a 12 month high of $544.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $359.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $387.02. The company has a market capitalization of $13.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 119.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 2.81.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.36. Duolingo had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 13.24%.The company had revenue of $252.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.51 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DUOL. KeyCorp raised 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. Citigroup assumed coverage on Duolingo in a report on Monday, August 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $400.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Duolingo from $600.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Argus assumed coverage on Duolingo in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $575.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their price target on Duolingo from $475.00 to $450.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duolingo currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $451.35.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In other Duolingo news, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 99.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,515 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.36, for a total value of $486,860.40. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 32,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,488,547.68. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 80,508 shares of company stock valued at $30,993,721 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 18.30% of the company's stock.

Duolingo Company 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.