Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Bank of America downgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an underperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $135.80, but opened at $125.40. Bank of America now has a $93.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $103.00. Duolingo shares last traded at $132.8050, with a volume of 407,486 shares changing hands.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on DUOL. Weiss Ratings raised Duolingo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Duolingo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $94.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on shares of Duolingo in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Duolingo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duolingo news, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 173,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total value of $159,267.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 170,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,150,759.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,506 shares of company stock worth $1,073,864. Company insiders own 16.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Duolingo

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

Duolingo Trading Down 2.0%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.45. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. Duolingo had a net margin of 38.44% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The firm had revenue of $291.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.60 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.