Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) Short Interest Up 29.6% in December

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,441,438 shares, an increase of 29.6% from the December 15th total of 4,970,210 shares. Currently, 17.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,204,086 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,204,086 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Currently, 17.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DUOL. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Duolingo from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Scotiabank cut their price target on Duolingo from $600.00 to $300.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Duolingo from $390.00 to $230.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.50.

Duolingo Stock Performance

Shares of DUOL traded down $4.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $150.16. 2,308,372 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,540,881. Duolingo has a twelve month low of $147.70 and a twelve month high of $544.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 2.82. The company has a market capitalization of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $181.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $273.98.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $5.23. The company had revenue of $271.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.14 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.02% and a net margin of 40.03%.The firm’s revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duolingo will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duolingo news, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 3,059 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total value of $537,649.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 37,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,588,715.12. The trade was a 7.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,514 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.87, for a total value of $266,267.18. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 31,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,547,291.54. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 53,169 shares of company stock valued at $11,605,151 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 15.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 16.3% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 4,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,668,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 3.5% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Company 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.