Clearbridge Investments LLC Decreases Holdings in Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Clearbridge Investments LLC reduced its position in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) by 32.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,720 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Duolingo were worth $10,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DUOL. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 4,861,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,184,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033,611 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Duolingo by 5,800.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 560,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,368,000 after buying an additional 551,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Duolingo during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,159,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Duolingo by 22,970.4% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 415,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,650,000 after purchasing an additional 413,468 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Duolingo by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 740,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,441,000 after purchasing an additional 325,648 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duolingo

In other Duolingo news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.61, for a total transaction of $224,606.97. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 52,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,999,403.27. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 Robert Meese sold 1,420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total value of $159,267.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 170,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,150,759.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,506 shares of company stock valued at $1,073,864. Company insiders own 16.62% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of DUOL stock opened at $121.92 on Thursday. Duolingo, Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.89 and a twelve month high of $489.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $291.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $288.60 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.07% and a net margin of 38.44%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUOL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Duolingo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, February 27th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Duolingo from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Duolingo from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.61.

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.