Insider Selling: Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) CEO Sells $7,031,709.66 in Stock

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) CEO Luis van Ahn sold 46,682 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.63, for a total transaction of $7,031,709.66. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 46,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,031,709.66. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ahn Luis Von also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 22nd, Luis van Ahn sold 3,614 shares of Duolingo stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.91, for a total transaction of $549,002.74.
• On Monday, September 21st, Luis van Ahn sold 37,366 shares of Duolingo stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.53, for a total transaction of $5,624,703.98.
• On Wednesday, September 16th, Luis van Ahn sold 28,292 shares of Duolingo stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.22, for a total transaction of $4,250,024.24.

Duolingo Trading Down 0.2%

DUOL opened at $142.40 on Thursday. Duolingo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.89 and a twelve month high of $353.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $142.15 and a 200-day moving average of $122.08. The stock has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.06. Duolingo had a net margin of 35.88% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The business had revenue of $298.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $295.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

Key Duolingo News

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DA Davidson reaffirmed its “buy” rating and set a $175 price target, implying meaningful upside from recent trading levels. The bullish view supports the case that Duolingo’s user growth, brand strength and expanding product portfolio can drive a recovery. DA Davidson analyst coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Duolingo is reportedly seeing rapid growth in Indonesia, suggesting continued international adoption and additional long-term expansion opportunities beyond its mature markets. Duolingo sees rapid Indonesia growth
• Positive Sentiment: Technical-focused coverage identified a historically bullish setup after the shares found support near a longer-term moving average, which may attract momentum-oriented buyers following the recent pullback. Historically bullish Duolingo stock setup
• Neutral Sentiment: Comparisons with Afya, Laureate Education and Coursera frame Duolingo as a relatively stronger education-technology business, but also emphasize that the broader sector has been pressured as investors question the value of software-based learning in an artificial-intelligence-driven market. Duolingo versus Coursera
• Negative Sentiment: One analysis is not buying DUOL yet because management is prioritizing customer growth over near-term monetization. That strategy could limit revenue and profit acceleration, particularly while the market is demanding clearer returns from growth investments. Why I’m Not Buying Duolingo Stock Yet
• Negative Sentiment: Co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn sold 46,682 shares for approximately $7.0 million, reducing his direct stake by half. The sale occurred under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, which reduces its signaling value, but insider selling can still weigh on sentiment.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DUOL. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Duolingo by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,241,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,362,000 after acquiring an additional 11,140 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 511.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,332,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,315 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 112.9% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,193,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,624,000 after purchasing an additional 632,807 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 811,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,501,000 after purchasing an additional 19,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Duolingo by 91.3% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 603,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,517,000 after purchasing an additional 288,252 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on DUOL shares. Citigroup raised Duolingo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Compass Point started coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $146.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.38.

About Duolingo

Duolingo, Inc develops digital learning products designed to make education accessible through technology and gamification. Its flagship Duolingo app offers language-learning courses, practice exercises and other interactive features for learners of languages including Spanish, English, French, German and Japanese, among others.

The company also offers subscription plans, including Super Duolingo and Duolingo Max, which provide additional features and, in the case of Duolingo Max, artificial-intelligence-powered learning tools.