Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Trading 7.9% Higher – Still a Buy?

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) shares shot up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $295.10 and last traded at $294.40. 1,150,491 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 41% from the average session volume of 816,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DUOL. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Duolingo in a research note on Friday, January 24th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $370.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Duolingo from $295.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Duolingo from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Duolingo from $351.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.00.

Duolingo Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.09, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $354.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $314.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 161.51 and a beta of 0.92.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $209.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.49 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 11.74% and a net margin of 12.59%. On average, analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 2,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $435.12, for a total value of $898,087.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 34,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,069,946.08. This represents a 5.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 2,667 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $435.28, for a total value of $1,160,891.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 129,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,400,100.16. This represents a 2.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 313,159 shares of company stock valued at $107,512,184. Corporate insiders own 18.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Duolingo by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,826,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duolingo by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 10,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,276,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP lifted its stake in Duolingo by 2.4% in the third quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 1,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Duolingo by 3.1% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Duolingo by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.