Voya Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Duolingo, Inc. by 38.3%, selling 10,060 shares and retaining 16,186 shares valued at approximately $5 million.
• Institutional investors continue to show interest in Duolingo, with T. Rowe Price increasing its position by 110.5%, along with significant boosts from other firms like GAMMA Investing LLC, which increased its holdings by 41,959.1%.
• Despite mixed ratings from analysts, Duolingo's recent earnings report showed a 41.5% increase in revenue year-over-year with an EPS of $0.91, surpassing the consensus estimate.

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) by 38.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,186 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,060 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Duolingo were worth $5,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUOL. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 43.6% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 4,750.0% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 97 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the first quarter valued at $31,000. 91.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,515 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.36, for a total transaction of $486,860.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 32,638 shares in the company, valued at $10,488,547.68. This represents a 4.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 10,937 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.39, for a total transaction of $3,471,294.43. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 43,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,757,269.55. This trade represents a 20.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,508 shares of company stock worth $23,716,221. Company insiders own 15.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Duolingo from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Duolingo to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Monday, September 8th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $239.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $419.32.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of Duolingo stock traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $290.90. The stock had a trading volume of 1,529,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,909,368. The stock's 50 day moving average is $327.64 and its 200 day moving average is $377.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.33 billion, a PE ratio of 119.71, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.85. Duolingo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $256.63 and a twelve month high of $544.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.36. Duolingo had a net margin of 13.24% and a return on equity of 13.32%. The firm had revenue of $252.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.51 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 41.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect 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.