Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Downgraded by Bank of America to “Underperform”

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $93.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential downside of 31.52% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on DUOL. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Zacks Research raised Duolingo from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.88.

Duolingo Stock Performance

Duolingo stock opened at $135.80 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.87. Duolingo has a 1-year low of $87.89 and a 1-year high of $468.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $123.92 and its 200 day moving average is $115.45.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $291.97 million during 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Duolingo will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In other Duolingo news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 Duolingo stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total value of $381,662.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 173,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,696,619.59. This trade 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. Company insiders own 16.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Duolingo by 3.5% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 940 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 11,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,778,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 8,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duolingo by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

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.