Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) by 660.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,262 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,307 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Duolingo were worth $716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUOL. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its position in Duolingo by 71.9% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,611 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 112.9% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,193,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,624,000 after purchasing an additional 632,807 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 1,715,575.9% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 497,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,319,000 after buying an additional 497,517 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the fourth quarter worth about $86,159,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 22,970.4% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 415,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,650,000 after buying an additional 413,468 shares in the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duolingo Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:DUOL opened at $122.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.88. Duolingo, Inc. has a one year low of $87.89 and a one year high of $468.00. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $120.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.45.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duolingo news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total transaction of $159,267.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 170,745 shares in the company, valued at $19,150,759.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 173,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,506 shares of company stock worth $1,073,864. Insiders own 16.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DUOL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Duolingo from $94.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Duolingo from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Evercore set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Duolingo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. 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 research note on Thursday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.17.

Duolingo 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.