Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.14 Million in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new Duolingo position in the first quarter, buying 11,600 shares worth about $1.14 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high at 91.59%, and several other funds also modestly increased their Duolingo holdings in recent quarters.
• Analysts are mostly cautious on DUOL, with a consensus rating of Hold, while Duolingo recently beat earnings and revenue estimates in its latest quarterly report.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 11,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,143,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in Duolingo by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 940 shares of the company's stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 5.0% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 818 shares of the company's stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 11,740 shares of the company's stock worth $3,778,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 2,166 shares of the company's stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in Duolingo by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 8,953 shares of the company's stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on DUOL shares. Zacks Research upgraded Duolingo from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Duolingo in a report on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Duolingo in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Duolingo from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duolingo currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $175.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duolingo

In other Duolingo news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total value 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 approximately $5,999,403.27. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 173,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. This trade represents 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864. 16.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duolingo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DUOL opened at $125.76 on Friday. Duolingo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.89 and a 1 year high of $468.00. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.03. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 38.44%.The company had revenue of $291.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Duolingo

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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