Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Stock Price Up 8.9% – Here’s What Happened

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL)’s stock price traded up 8.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $132.18 and last traded at $133.1760. 596,148 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 2,065,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $122.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Duolingo in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Duolingo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duolingo presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.17.

Duolingo Stock Up 9.0%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.88.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. Duolingo had a net margin of 38.44% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The company had revenue of $291.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. Duolingo’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total transaction of $159,267.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 170,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,150,759.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total value of $381,662.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 173,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,506 shares of company stock worth $1,073,864. 16.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in Duolingo by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,611 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 511.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,332,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,315 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Duolingo by 112.9% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,193,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,624,000 after acquiring an additional 632,807 shares during the period. FIL Ltd grew its position in Duolingo by 1,715,575.9% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 497,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,319,000 after acquiring an additional 497,517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Duolingo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,159,000. 91.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.