Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $148.36, but opened at $159.01. Duolingo shares last traded at $156.2350, with a volume of 618,563 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on DUOL shares. Bank of America lowered Duolingo from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $103.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Duolingo from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Susquehanna assumed coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. They issued a “positive” rating on the stock. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.53.

Duolingo Trading Up 5.9%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $132.78 and a 200-day moving average of $115.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.87.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $298.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $295.58 million. Duolingo had a net margin of 35.88% and a return on equity of 12.10%. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Duolingo

In other Duolingo news, insider Robert Meese sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.13, for a total transaction of $174,842.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 169,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,873,459.83. This represents a 0.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 1,539 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.80, for a total value of $212,074.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 169,111 shares in the company, valued at $23,303,495.80. This represents a 0.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,668 shares of company stock valued at $874,382. 16.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Duolingo by 12,171.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,119,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,863,000 after buying an additional 5,077,935 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,241,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,362,000 after acquiring an additional 11,140 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 511.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,332,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,325,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,315 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 112.9% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 1,193,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,624,000 after purchasing an additional 632,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Duolingo by 0.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,164,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,422,000 after purchasing an additional 6,109 shares in the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.