Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 288,252 Shares of Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) by 91.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 603,806 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 288,252 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 1.30% of Duolingo worth $59,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Duolingo by 1,868.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Duolingo by 123.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 87,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,190,000 after purchasing an additional 48,451 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in Duolingo by 28.3% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Duolingo by 142.1% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 26,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,352,000 after purchasing an additional 15,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in Duolingo in the second quarter valued at approximately $205,000. 91.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duolingo Price Performance

DUOL stock opened at $122.24 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.97. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 2.62. Duolingo, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.89 and a fifty-two week high of $468.00.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $291.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.60 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 38.44%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on DUOL. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Duolingo in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duolingo news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 170,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,150,759.20. The trade was a 0.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 company’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 owned 173,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. The trade was a 1.90% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 9,506 shares of company stock worth $1,073,864 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 16.62% of the company’s stock.

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.