Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 23,573 Shares of Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its Duolingo stake by 23,573 shares (a 0.6% reduction) in Q4, leaving it with 3,621,788 shares — roughly 7.83% of the company valued at $635.6 million.
• Baillie Gifford materially increased its position, adding 2,033,611 shares to hold 4,861,445 shares ($853.2 million), and institutional investors now own about 91.59% of Duolingo.
• Analysts have cut price targets (e.g., Goldman from $250 to $105) resulting in an average "Hold" rating with a $196.78 target, even as Duolingo recently beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.91 vs. $0.79) with revenue up 35% year‑over‑year.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,621,788 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,573 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.83% of Duolingo worth $635,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in Duolingo by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company's stock worth $853,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,611 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Duolingo by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,164,387 shares of the company's stock worth $477,422,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duolingo by 78.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 740,869 shares of the company's stock worth $238,441,000 after purchasing an additional 325,648 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Duolingo by 22,970.4% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 415,268 shares of the company's stock worth $133,650,000 after acquiring an additional 413,468 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Duolingo by 2.6% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 314,733 shares of the company's stock worth $101,294,000 after acquiring an additional 7,973 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on DUOL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Duolingo to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $196.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,901 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.26, for a total transaction of $215,307.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 30,545 shares in the company, valued at $3,459,526.70. The trade was a 5.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 3,986 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.52, for a total transaction of $452,490.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,590,751.12. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 14,939 shares of company stock worth $1,676,291 over the last 90 days. 16.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duolingo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:DUOL opened at $111.25 on Monday. Duolingo, Inc. has a one year low of $87.89 and a one year high of $544.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a current ratio of 2.61. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.37.

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