Virtu Financial LLC Takes Position in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 24,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,282,000. Virtu Financial LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Duolingo as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 259,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,571,000 after buying an additional 62,614 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Duolingo by 967.3% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 48,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,746,000 after buying an additional 44,342 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in 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. Dream Peak Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Duolingo during the fourth quarter worth $18,345,000. Finally, Capital International Investors bought a new stake in Duolingo during the third quarter worth $98,456,000. Institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DUOL. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price objective on Duolingo from $230.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Duolingo from $250.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Duolingo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,360 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total value of $381,662.40. Following the sale, the insider directly 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total value of $224,606.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 52,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,999,403.27. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 a total of 9,506 shares of company stock worth $1,073,864 in the last ninety days. 16.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duolingo Stock Performance

NASDAQ DUOL opened at $125.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.89. Duolingo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.89 and a 12-month high of $483.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $108.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.05.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 38.44%.The firm had revenue of $291.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.