Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Shares Down 6.4% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) dropped 6.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $122.07 and last traded at $123.6450. 440,675 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 2,235,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUOL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Duolingo from $230.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Duolingo in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Duolingo from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $97.00 price objective on Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duolingo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.41.

Duolingo Trading Down 9.5%

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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $111.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.89.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $291.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.60 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 38.44%.Duolingo’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In related news, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 173,401 shares in the company, valued at $19,696,619.59. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 52,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,999,403.27. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864. Corporate insiders own 16.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Duolingo by 194.1% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. EFG International AG purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 51.1% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 91.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.