Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Sets New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $136.99 and last traded at $138.2150, with a volume of 948647 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $142.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUOL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $245.00 price target on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Duolingo from $460.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Duolingo from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Truist Financial set a $245.00 price target on Duolingo in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Duolingo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $301.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duolingo currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $301.75.

Duolingo Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.03. The company has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.82, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $5.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $5.23. The business had revenue of $271.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.14 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.02% and a net margin of 40.03%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.74, for a total transaction of $1,727,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 72 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,437.28. This represents a 99.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Natalie Glance sold 2,471 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.79, for a total transaction of $434,377.09. Following the sale, the insider owned 111,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,541,871.14. This represents a 2.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 43,169 shares of company stock worth $8,457,951 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 15.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its stake in shares of Duolingo by 71.9% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,611 shares in the last quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Duolingo by 324.4% in the third quarter. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC now owns 1,580,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,208,346 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in Duolingo by 5,800.0% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 560,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,368,000 after purchasing an additional 551,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the second quarter valued at approximately $192,965,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 22,970.4% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 415,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,650,000 after buying an additional 413,468 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

About Duolingo

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.