Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Earns “Hold” Rating from Argus

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Argus in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (down from $300.00) on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Duolingo from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Duolingo from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Duolingo from $250.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duolingo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $206.32.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of DUOL opened at $99.61 on Wednesday. Duolingo has a 12-month low of $91.99 and a 12-month high of $544.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $4.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.90.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $282.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.95 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 39.91%.Duolingo’s revenue was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Duolingo will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duolingo

In other news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.26, for a total value of $215,307.26. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 30,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,459,526.70. The trade was a 5.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.51, for a total transaction of $402,392.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 115,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,096,783.80. This represents a 2.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,939 shares of company stock worth $1,676,291. Company insiders own 15.67% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUOL. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,611 shares in the last quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC grew its stake in Duolingo by 324.4% during the third quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC now owns 1,580,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,346 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Duolingo by 5,800.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 560,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,368,000 after purchasing an additional 551,000 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased 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 purchasing an additional 497,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Duolingo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,159,000. 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.