Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,040 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,342 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Duolingo were worth $8,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Duolingo in the 1st quarter worth approximately $246,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 64,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,311,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 60.7% during the 1st quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 3,588.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 8,863 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duolingo by 87.5% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,977 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 52,807 shares in the company, valued at $5,999,403.27. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.16, for a total transaction of $159,267.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 170,745 shares in the company, valued at $19,150,759.20. This represents a 0.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 9,506 shares of company stock worth $1,073,864 over the last 90 days. 16.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUOL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Duolingo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Duolingo from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Duolingo from $94.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $167.17.

Duolingo Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DUOL opened at $122.24 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $120.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.97. Duolingo, Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.89 and a 1 year high of $468.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.62.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $291.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $288.60 million. Duolingo had a net margin of 38.44% and a return on equity of 14.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 26.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duolingo Company 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.