Natalie Glance Sells 2,751 Shares of Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Stock

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) insider Natalie Glance sold 2,751 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.13, for a total value of $355,236.63. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 170,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,036,034.50. This trade represents a 1.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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.

Natalie Glance also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 18th, Natalie Glance sold 1,539 shares of Duolingo stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.80, for a total value of $212,074.20.

Duolingo Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Duolingo stock opened at $147.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.35. Duolingo, Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.89 and a 12-month high of $355.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $298.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $295.58 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 12.10% and a net margin of 35.88%.The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Duolingo

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DA Davidson upgraded Duolingo to “Buy” from “Neutral” and raised its price target to $160 from $130. The firm cited product improvements and strategic initiatives that could represent a turning point for the language-learning platform. The higher target implies further potential upside from recent trading levels. Duolingo Raised to Buy at DA Davidson
• Positive Sentiment: The upgrade helped trigger a gap higher in DUOL shares. Investor sentiment is also benefiting from Duolingo’s user growth, subscription-based business model and prospects for improved monetization and lower artificial-intelligence costs. The company’s latest quarterly results provide additional support: revenue increased 18.3% year over year to $298.45 million and EPS exceeded estimates. Duolingo Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Several insiders sold shares after restricted stock units vested, including General Counsel Stephen Chen, Chief Business Officer Robert Meese and Natalie Glance. The sales were described as covering tax-withholding obligations, and some occurred under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. Each insider retained a substantial position, reducing the significance of the transactions, though the activity could modestly weigh on sentiment. Duolingo Insider Selling
• Neutral Sentiment: A Yahoo Entertainment article discusses another company’s brand mascot but does not report a material financial, operating or strategic development for Duolingo. Move Over Duolingo, There’s a New Brand Mascot in Town

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DUOL. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Duolingo from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wedbush upped their target price on Duolingo from $139.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Duolingo from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Duolingo from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Duolingo from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.19.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DUOL. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Duolingo by 1,868.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 123.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 87,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,190,000 after buying an additional 48,451 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 28.3% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Duolingo by 142.1% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 26,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,352,000 after buying an additional 15,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo during the 2nd quarter valued at $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

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.