Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Shares Gap Up to $194.66

Shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $194.66, but opened at $208.88. Duolingo shares last traded at $209.31, with a volume of 272,697 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Duolingo from $173.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Duolingo from $210.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Duolingo from $217.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Duolingo from $160.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.13.

Duolingo Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $209.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.95. The stock has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 610.22 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 3.24, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $150.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.98 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 2.64% and a net margin of 3.03%. Research analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ahn Luis Von sold 13,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.34, for a total value of $2,833,424.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Natalie Glance sold 1,500 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.07, for a total transaction of $270,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 129,188 shares in the company, valued at $23,262,883.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ahn Luis Von sold 13,600 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.34, for a total value of $2,833,424.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,223 shares of company stock worth $23,682,665 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 19.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in Duolingo by 5.0% during the third quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,488,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,529,000 after purchasing an additional 213,552 shares during the period. Durable Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in Duolingo by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 4,156,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,669,000 after purchasing an additional 379,844 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Duolingo by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,320,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $753,239,000 after purchasing an additional 129,290 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Duolingo by 15.0% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,323,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,061,000 after acquiring an additional 303,206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Duolingo by 0.7% during the second quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 1,328,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,933,000 after acquiring an additional 8,668 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Company Profile

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.