Robert Meese Sells 1,420 Shares of Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Stock

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total value of $159,267.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 170,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,150,759.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DUOL opened at $106.82 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $101.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.51. The stock has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 2.62. Duolingo, Inc. has a one year low of $87.89 and a one year high of $540.30.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $291.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.60 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 38.44%.Duolingo’s quarterly revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Duolingo

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Duolingo’s General Counsel Stephen Chen, along with other insiders including Robert Meese and Natalie Glance, sold shares in recent transactions. The company said these sales were made under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans and to cover tax withholding obligations tied to equity awards, which makes them less concerning than discretionary selling, but they can still weigh on investor sentiment. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Duolingo reported solid first-quarter results earlier this month, beating earnings and revenue estimates and posting 26.5% year-over-year revenue growth. That supports the long-term story, but it may not be enough to offset recent concerns about valuation and the stock’s sharp pullback from its highs.
• Neutral Sentiment: Duolingo is also selling its East Liberty headquarters and consolidating operations in a nearby tower, suggesting a real estate and office footprint shift rather than a fundamental business issue. Investors may view this as cost management, but it is not a major growth catalyst. Article Title

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 3.5% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 940 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 5.0% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 22.2% in the third quarter. Generali Investments Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych now owns 220 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 35.4% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 237 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 0.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 11,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,778,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DUOL. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price target (down from $300.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Duolingo from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Duolingo from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Duolingo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duolingo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $195.94.

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.