Duolingo’s (DUOL) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Argus

Argus restated their hold rating on shares of Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (down from $300.00) on shares of Duolingo in a report on Friday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Duolingo from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Duolingo from $230.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Duolingo from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duolingo has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $206.32.

Duolingo Stock Down 1.6%

Duolingo stock opened at $98.05 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a current ratio of 2.61. Duolingo has a fifty-two week low of $91.99 and a fifty-two week high of $544.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $120.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $200.82.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.12. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 39.91%.The company had revenue of $282.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.95 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Duolingo will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James H. Shelton acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $99.76 per share, with a total value of $498,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $960,888.32. The trade was a 107.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 3,986 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.52, for a total transaction of $452,490.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 31,631 shares in the company, valued at $3,590,751.12. This represents a 11.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,939 shares of company stock valued at $1,676,291. Company insiders own 15.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osbon Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the fourth quarter worth $73,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the fourth quarter worth $4,282,000. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Duolingo in the fourth quarter valued at $333,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Duolingo by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.