South Dakota Investment Council Invests $2.03 Million in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

South Dakota Investment Council acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 6,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,028,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 0.7% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 63,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,360,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in Duolingo by 75.6% in the 3rd quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after buying an additional 1,913 shares during the period. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo during the third quarter worth approximately $264,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo during the third quarter worth approximately $812,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 48.7% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DUOL. Citizens Jmp lowered Duolingo from a “market outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Barclays lowered 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 note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $101.00 price target (down from $270.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $206.32.

Duolingo Stock Down 5.4%

Shares of Duolingo stock opened at $96.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $139.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.04. Duolingo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.99 and a 52-week high of $544.93.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.12. Duolingo had a net margin of 39.91% and a return on equity of 14.88%. The company had revenue of $282.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $275.95 million. Duolingo’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Duolingo news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,901 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.26, for a total value of $215,307.26. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 30,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,459,526.70. This trade represents a 5.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Meese sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.06, for a total value of $110,060.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 122,636 shares in the company, valued at $13,497,318.16. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 14,939 shares of company stock worth $1,676,291 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 15.67% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Profile

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.