Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL Position Lifted by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP raised its stake in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) by 665.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,140 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,162 shares during the period. Duolingo accounts for 0.6% of AXQ Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Duolingo were worth $2,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DUOL. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 1,868.2% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Duolingo by 123.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 87,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,190,000 after purchasing an additional 48,451 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Duolingo by 28.3% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in Duolingo by 142.1% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 26,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,352,000 after purchasing an additional 15,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in Duolingo during the second quarter worth $205,000. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duolingo Price Performance

DUOL stock opened at $117.97 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.69. Duolingo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.89 and a 12-month high of $540.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.89.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 38.44%.The firm had revenue of $291.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In other news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total value of $159,267.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 170,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,150,759.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total value of $224,606.97. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 52,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,999,403.27. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 16.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on DUOL shares. Barclays cut their price target on Duolingo from $230.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Evercore set a $97.00 price target on Duolingo in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $101.00 price target (down from $270.00) on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Duolingo from $250.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (down from $300.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $195.94.

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.