State of Michigan Retirement System Has $117.62 Million Stake in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) by 112.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,193,307 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 632,807 shares during the period. Duolingo comprises approximately 0.6% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Duolingo were worth $117,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,184,000 after buying an additional 2,033,611 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Duolingo by 1,715,575.9% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 497,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,319,000 after acquiring an additional 497,517 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Duolingo in the fourth quarter worth approximately $86,159,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Duolingo by 22,970.4% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 415,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,650,000 after acquiring an additional 413,468 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Duolingo by 78.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 740,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,441,000 after acquiring an additional 325,648 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total transaction of $159,267.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 170,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,150,759.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 173,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold a total of 9,506 shares of company stock worth $1,073,864 over the last quarter. Insiders own 16.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUOL has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a report on Monday, June 29th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Duolingo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duolingo has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $170.82.

Duolingo Trading Up 6.1%

Shares of Duolingo stock opened at $132.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.27. Duolingo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.89 and a 12-month high of $468.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. The business 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%.The business’s revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.