BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 18,311 Shares of Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lessened its holdings in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) by 33.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,647 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,311 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Duolingo were worth $6,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DUOL. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted 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 worth $853,184,000 after buying an additional 2,033,611 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 5,800.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 560,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,368,000 after buying an additional 551,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo in the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,159,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 22,970.4% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 415,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,650,000 after buying an additional 413,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 740,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,441,000 after buying an additional 325,648 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUOL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Duolingo from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (down from $300.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.61.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In related news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total transaction of $159,267.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 170,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,150,759.20. This trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 Duolingo stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total value of $224,606.97. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 52,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,999,403.27. This represents 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864. Company insiders own 16.62% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DUOL opened at $117.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.89. Duolingo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.89 and a fifty-two week high of $503.49. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $104.50 and a 200-day moving average of $130.77.

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

Duolingo 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.