Northern Trust Corp Cuts Stake in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Duolingo, Inc. by 0.4%, selling 1,051 shares, and now owns approximately 295,406 shares valued at $91.7 million.
• Insider selling included Natalie Glance and Severin Hacker who sold 2,533 and 10,000 shares respectively, representing significant decreases in their ownership of the stock.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $451.35 for Duolingo, with ratings ranging from "buy" to "hold" from various research firms.

Northern Trust Corp reduced its holdings in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 295,406 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,051 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.65% of Duolingo worth $91,735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Duolingo by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,104 shares of the company's stock worth $3,276,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Duolingo by 1.2% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,942 shares of the company's stock worth $914,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Duolingo by 24.4% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 199 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Duolingo by 20.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 313 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Duolingo by 90.1% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 135 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUOL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Duolingo from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on shares of Duolingo from $475.00 to $450.00 and set a "mkt outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. JMP Securities decreased their price target on shares of Duolingo from $475.00 to $450.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duolingo from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $451.35.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In related news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,515 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.36, for a total value of $486,860.40. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $344.56, for a total transaction of $3,445,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 72 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,808.32. The trade was a 99.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,508 shares of company stock worth $30,993,721 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 15.67% of the company's stock.

Duolingo Stock Down 8.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:DUOL traded down $25.99 during trading on Friday, hitting $296.79. 1,615,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,056,185. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $365.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $388.91. Duolingo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $202.44 and a 12-month high of $544.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.17, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.81.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.36. Duolingo had a net margin of 13.24% and a return on equity of 13.32%. The business had revenue of $252.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $240.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 41.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Duolingo

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.