Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Trading Down 5.9% – Should You Sell?

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) traded down 5.9% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $136.60 and last traded at $135.5380. Approximately 108,507 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 2,011,829 shares. The stock had previously closed at $144.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUOL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on Duolingo from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on Duolingo from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Duolingo from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Duolingo from $94.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.12.

Duolingo Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $127.90 and a 200-day moving average of $114.48.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. Duolingo had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 35.88%.The firm had revenue of $298.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $295.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In related news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,999,403.27. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 173,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,696,619.59. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. 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. 16.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DUOL. EFG International AG bought a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the second quarter worth $77,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in Duolingo during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Duolingo during the third quarter worth $70,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in Duolingo in the second quarter valued at $89,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

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.