Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating positive sentiment around the company's stock performance.
• Recent earnings reports showed Duolingo beating consensus estimates with an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.91, up from $0.51 EPS in the same quarter last year, alongside a revenue increase of 41.5% year-over-year.
• Duolingo has a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $420.63, reflecting optimism among analysts despite recent stock price fluctuations.

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL - Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on DUOL. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on Duolingo in a report on Friday, September 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp upgraded Duolingo from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Duolingo from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Duolingo in a report on Monday. They set an "underweight" rating and a $239.00 target price for the company. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Duolingo to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $420.63.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of DUOL traded down $1.43 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $307.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,171,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,837,668. The company's 50-day moving average is $337.69 and its 200 day moving average is $379.44. Duolingo has a 12-month low of $225.26 and a 12-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. The company has a market capitalization of $14.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.85.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duolingo news, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.55, for a total value of $2,685,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 72 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,335.60. This trade represents a 99.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 10,937 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.39, for a total value of $3,471,294.43. Following the completion of the sale, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,508 shares of company stock worth $28,428,221. Insiders own 15.67% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Duolingo in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Duolingo by 43.6% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Duolingo in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Duolingo by 4,750.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 97 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duolingo in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company's stock.

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.