BIT Capital GmbH Grows Stock Holdings in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

BIT Capital GmbH increased its stake in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) by 33.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,910 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 44,543 shares during the quarter. Duolingo comprises about 1.2% of BIT Capital GmbH’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. BIT Capital GmbH’s holdings in Duolingo were worth $31,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 71.9% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,184,000 after buying an additional 2,033,611 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 0.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,164,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,422,000 after buying an additional 6,109 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 811,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,501,000 after buying an additional 19,698 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Duolingo by 78.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 740,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $238,441,000 after purchasing an additional 325,648 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its position 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Price Performance

DUOL stock opened at $109.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $103.65 and a 200-day moving average of $131.90. Duolingo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.89 and a 12-month high of $540.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.89.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 38.44% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The company had revenue of $291.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duolingo, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In other news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total transaction of $224,606.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 52,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,999,403.27. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $381,662.40. Following the transaction, the insider owned 173,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,696,619.59. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 90 days. 16.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DUOL. Evercore set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $250.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $230.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Duolingo from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $195.94.

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.