Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Stock Rating Lowered by Bank of America

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

Several other research analysts have also commented on DUOL. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Two investment 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.88.

Duolingo Stock Performance

NASDAQ:DUOL opened at $135.80 on Tuesday. Duolingo has a fifty-two week low of $87.89 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $123.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.87.

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 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 company had revenue of $291.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Duolingo will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duolingo news, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 173,401 shares in the company, valued at $19,696,619.59. This represents a 1.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total value of $224,606.97. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 52,807 shares in the company, valued at $5,999,403.27. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864 in the last three months. 16.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duolingo

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duolingo by 1,868.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duolingo by 123.9% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 28.3% during 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 grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 142.1% during 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 purchased a new position in Duolingo in the second quarter valued at $205,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.