Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Stock Price

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) had its price target lowered by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $460.00 to $300.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 49.10% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Duolingo from $400.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Duolingo from $375.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. JMP Securities reduced their price target on Duolingo from $475.00 to $450.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson downgraded Duolingo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $500.00 to $300.00 in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Duolingo from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $340.53.

Duolingo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DUOL traded up $7.47 during trading on Thursday, hitting $201.21. 4,329,856 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,862,113. The company has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.81 and a current ratio of 2.81. Duolingo has a 1-year low of $182.00 and a 1-year high of $544.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $376.65.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $5.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $5.23. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.02% and a net margin of 40.03%.The company had revenue of $271.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. Duolingo has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Duolingo will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In related news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.03, for a total value of $475,119.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 120,080 shares in the company, valued at $39,509,922.40. The trade was a 1.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $1,025,280.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 116,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,280,203.30. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 83,791 shares of company stock valued at $25,649,401. 15.67% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DUOL. Bryce Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the second quarter worth about $946,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Duolingo during the 1st quarter worth about $3,772,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Duolingo by 39.0% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the period. Encompass More Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Duolingo during the 1st quarter worth about $762,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Duolingo in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,409,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

About Duolingo

Duolingo, Inc operates as a mobile learning platform in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers courses in 40 different languages, including Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese through its Duolingo app. It also provides a digital English language proficiency assessment exam.