Duolingo Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:DUOL)

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 111,913 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 814% compared to the typical volume of 12,241 put options.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In other news, insider Natalie Glance sold 3,283 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.30, for a total value of $1,025,280.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 116,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,280,203.30. This trade represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 10,937 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.39, for a total value of $3,471,294.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 43,345 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,757,269.55. The trade was a 20.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,791 shares of company stock valued at $23,018,101. Insiders own 15.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kiker Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Duolingo in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 43.6% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 79 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in Duolingo during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Duolingo by 4,750.0% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 97 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DUOL shares. Evercore ISI set a $330.00 price objective on Duolingo and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities reduced their target price on Duolingo from $475.00 to $450.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup downgraded Duolingo from a “buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Duolingo from $600.00 to $300.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $357.26.

Duolingo Stock Down 25.5%

DUOL traded down $66.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $193.74. 13,021,930 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,239,934. The stock has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.83. Duolingo has a fifty-two week low of $182.00 and a fifty-two week high of $544.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.81 and a quick ratio of 2.81. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $302.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $378.73.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $5.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $5.23. Duolingo had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 13.24%.The company had revenue of $271.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Duolingo has set its Q4 2025 guidance at EPS. FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duolingo will post 2.03 EPS for the current year.

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.