Stephen Chen Sells 1,024 Shares of Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Stock

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) General Counsel Stephen Chen sold 1,024 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.13, for a total transaction of $132,229.12. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 51,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,694,228.33. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Duolingo Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of DUOL opened at $147.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a current ratio of 2.72. Duolingo, Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.89 and a 52 week high of $355.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.35.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. Duolingo had a net margin of 35.88% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The firm had revenue of $298.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $295.58 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on DUOL shares. Bank of America downgraded Duolingo from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $103.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Craig Hallum downgraded Duolingo to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup raised Duolingo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Duolingo from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duolingo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $131.19.

More Duolingo News

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DA Davidson upgraded Duolingo to “Buy” from “Neutral” and raised its price target to $160 from $130. The firm cited product improvements and strategic initiatives that could represent a turning point for the language-learning platform. The higher target implies further potential upside from recent trading levels. Duolingo Raised to Buy at DA Davidson
• Positive Sentiment: The upgrade helped trigger a gap higher in DUOL shares. Investor sentiment is also benefiting from Duolingo’s user growth, subscription-based business model and prospects for improved monetization and lower artificial-intelligence costs. The company’s latest quarterly results provide additional support: revenue increased 18.3% year over year to $298.45 million and EPS exceeded estimates. Duolingo Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insiders sold shares after restricted stock units vested, including General Counsel Stephen Chen, Chief Business Officer Robert Meese and Natalie Glance. The sales were described as covering tax-withholding obligations, and some occurred under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. Each insider retained a substantial position, reducing the significance of the transactions, though the activity could modestly weigh on sentiment. Duolingo Insider Selling
• Neutral Sentiment: A Yahoo Entertainment article discusses another company’s brand mascot but does not report a material financial, operating or strategic development for Duolingo. Move Over Duolingo, There’s a New Brand Mascot in Town

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 511.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,332,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,325,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,315 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in Duolingo by 112.9% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,193,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,624,000 after purchasing an additional 632,807 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its stake in Duolingo by 1,715,575.9% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 497,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,319,000 after purchasing an additional 497,517 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Duolingo during the fourth quarter worth about $86,159,000. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Duolingo by 1,351.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 449,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,265,000 after purchasing an additional 418,134 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.