Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 192,245 Shares of Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors increased its Duolingo stake by 416% in the first quarter, purchasing 192,245 additional shares for a total holding of 238,458 shares valued at approximately $23.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $152.29. Ratings include two Buys, 20 Holds and one Sell.
• Duolingo reported quarterly revenue of $291.97 million, up 26.5% year over year, and earnings per share of $0.89, exceeding analysts’ $0.79 estimate. The stock opened at $135.80, well below its 12-month high of $468.00.

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 416.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,458 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 192,245 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.51% of Duolingo worth $23,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUOL. EFG International AG bought a new position in shares of Duolingo in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Globeflex Capital L P bought a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the second quarter worth approximately $77,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Duolingo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Duolingo in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in Duolingo in the second quarter valued at approximately $89,000. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on DUOL shares. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $139.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Duolingo from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duolingo currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $152.29.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In other news, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 173,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,696,619.59. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total value of $159,267.20. Following the transaction, the insider owned 170,745 shares in the company, valued at $19,150,759.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864 over the last 90 days. 16.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duolingo Price Performance

DUOL opened at $135.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.87. Duolingo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.89 and a 12 month high of $468.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.45.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 38.44%.The firm had revenue of $291.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.81 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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