Capital World Investors Trims Position in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Capital World Investors trimmed its stake in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,230,238 shares of the company’s stock after selling 62,514 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Duolingo were worth $717,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUOL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duolingo by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,647,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,495,733,000 after acquiring an additional 116,135 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in shares of Duolingo by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,827,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,110,000 after acquiring an additional 628,943 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Duolingo by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,164,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,422,000 after buying an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Duolingo by 3.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 759,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,930,000 after acquiring an additional 23,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Duolingo during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $192,965,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Price Performance

DUOL opened at $95.18 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.24. Duolingo, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.99 and a 12 month high of $544.93. The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.90.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.12. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 39.91%.The business had revenue of $282.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.95 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.06, for a total value of $110,060.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 122,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,497,318.16. This trade represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.26, for a total value of $215,307.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 30,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,459,526.70. This represents a 5.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,939 shares of company stock valued at $1,676,291. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DUOL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Duolingo from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Friday, February 27th. UBS Group set a $245.00 target price on Duolingo in a report on Monday, January 5th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Duolingo from $170.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Duolingo from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $206.32.

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.