Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Boosts Stock Position in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its Duolingo stake by 206.9% in Q4 to 77,674 shares (about $13.63M), representing roughly 0.17% of the company.
• Several large institutions also added major positions — Baillie Gifford holds ~4.86M shares (~$853M), State of Michigan bought 560,500 shares, and institutional investors now own about 91.59% of Duolingo.
• Duolingo beat Q4 expectations with EPS $0.91 vs $0.79 and revenue up 35% y/y to $282.87M; the company has a market cap of ~$5.22B and an average analyst rating of "Hold" with a $196.78 consensus target.

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 206.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 77,674 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,364 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.17% of Duolingo worth $13,632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUOL. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in Duolingo by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $853,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,611 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in Duolingo by 5,800.0% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 560,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,368,000 after purchasing an additional 551,000 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Duolingo by 22,970.4% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 740,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,441,000 after buying an additional 325,648 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors acquired a new position in shares of Duolingo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $98,456,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company's stock.

Duolingo Price Performance

NASDAQ:DUOL opened at $111.25 on Friday. Duolingo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.89 and a 12 month high of $544.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $100.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.90.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 39.91%.The company had revenue of $282.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.95 million. Duolingo's revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUOL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (down from $300.00) on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 27th. UBS Group set a $245.00 price objective on Duolingo in a report on Monday, January 5th. Argus reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Duolingo in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research raised Duolingo from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $114.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $196.78.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In other news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,901 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.26, for a total value of $215,307.26. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 30,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,459,526.70. This represents a 5.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director James H. Shelton purchased 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $99.76 per share, with a total value of $498,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,632 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $960,888.32. This represents a 107.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 14,939 shares of company stock worth $1,676,291 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 15.67% of the company's stock.

Duolingo Company 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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