Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 19,698 Shares of Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management increased its Duolingo stake by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 19,698 more shares and bringing its total holding to 811,809 shares worth about $142.5 million.
• Other institutional investors also boosted positions in DUOL, and hedge funds and institutions now own 91.59% of the company’s stock.
• Duolingo posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.89 versus estimates of $0.79 and revenue up 26.5% year over year, though analysts still mostly rate the stock a Hold.

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 811,809 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,698 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 1.76% of Duolingo worth $142,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DUOL. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in Duolingo by 71.9% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $853,184,000 after acquiring an additional 2,033,611 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in Duolingo by 5,800.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 560,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,368,000 after acquiring an additional 551,000 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Duolingo by 22,970.4% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 415,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,650,000 after acquiring an additional 413,468 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Duolingo by 78.4% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 740,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,441,000 after acquiring an additional 325,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors purchased a new position in Duolingo during the third quarter valued at approximately $98,456,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total value of $159,267.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 170,745 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,150,759.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total transaction of $224,606.97. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 52,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,999,403.27. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864. Corporate insiders own 16.62% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $250.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $100.00 price objective (down from $300.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $101.00 price target (down from $270.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Duolingo currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $195.94.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of Duolingo stock opened at $109.15 on Friday. Duolingo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.89 and a 52-week high of $540.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $103.45 and a 200-day moving average of $132.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. Duolingo had a net margin of 38.44% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The company had revenue of $291.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $288.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current 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.

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