Duolingo’s (DUOL) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at DA Davidson

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at DA Davidson in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $175.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 25.63% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on DUOL. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Compass Point assumed coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, September 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $124.38.

Duolingo Price Performance

NASDAQ DUOL traded up $5.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $139.30. 481,814 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,873,908. Duolingo has a 52-week low of $87.89 and a 52-week high of $353.00. The company has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.47, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 2.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $141.33 and its 200-day moving average is $121.44.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $298.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $295.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Duolingo’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Duolingo will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Natalie Glance sold 1,539 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.80, for a total value of $212,074.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 169,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,303,495.80. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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. Also, Director William Gordon sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total transaction of $1,456,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 68,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,966,013.05. This trade represents a 12.75% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 140,694 shares of company stock worth $20,991,914. 16.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,114,315 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 112.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 632,807 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the 4th quarter valued at $86,159,000. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 1,351.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 449,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,265,000 after purchasing an additional 418,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 91.3% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 603,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,517,000 after purchasing an additional 288,252 shares in the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duolingo News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DA Davidson reaffirmed its Buy rating and set a $175 price target, implying roughly 25% upside from the recent trading level. The endorsement supports the view that Duolingo’s sharp selloff has created an attractive entry point. Benzinga analyst rating report
• Positive Sentiment: A bullish investment analysis argues that Duolingo’s proprietary user data, A/B-testing capabilities and AI-powered personalization form a defensible competitive advantage. AI could also accelerate content development, reduce costs and help the company expand into additional educational categories. Duolingo valuation and competitive advantage analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Indonesia was identified as one of Duolingo’s fastest-growing markets, highlighting continued international user-growth opportunities. Duolingo Indonesia growth report
• Neutral Sentiment: Duolingo is attracting increased attention from Zacks users, which may improve near-term trading interest but does not itself represent a change in fundamentals or earnings expectations. Zacks trending stock report
• Negative Sentiment: CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn sold 46,682 shares valued at approximately $7.0 million, reducing his direct ownership by 50%. The transactions were conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, which lessens—but does not eliminate—the negative signaling effect of insider selling. SEC insider trading filing
• Negative Sentiment: The stock recently suffered a steep decline, while the broader analyst consensus remains Hold with an average price target below the current market level. This creates an overhang despite Duolingo’s latest earnings and revenue modestly exceeding expectations.

Duolingo Company Profile

Duolingo, Inc develops digital learning products designed to make education accessible through mobile devices and the web. Its primary product is the Duolingo language-learning platform, which offers courses in numerous languages through interactive, game-like lessons, practice exercises and personalized learning features.

The company also provides the Duolingo English Test, an online English-proficiency assessment used by educational institutions and other organizations. In addition, Duolingo has expanded beyond language learning with products such as Duolingo Math and Duolingo Music, while offering premium subscription features through plans including Super Duolingo and Duolingo Max.

Duolingo serves users internationally, with its applications and online services available across a broad range of geographies.