Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $279.75, but opened at $288.34. Duolingo shares last traded at $287.36, with a volume of 38,531 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Duolingo from $245.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on Duolingo from $230.00 to $183.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Duolingo in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Duolingo from $292.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.50.

Duolingo Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.47 billion, a PE ratio of 288.40 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $221.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.30. The company has a current ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $178.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.13 million. Duolingo had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 9.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Duolingo

In related news, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.49, for a total transaction of $1,664,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 72 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,987.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Robert Meese sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.04, for a total value of $1,425,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 142,053 shares in the company, valued at $40,490,787.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.49, for a total transaction of $1,664,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 72 shares in the company, valued at $11,987.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 86,874 shares of company stock worth $18,150,547 over the last quarter. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,768,000. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Duolingo by 23.9% in the first quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 1,275,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,281,000 after buying an additional 245,599 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 153.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 395,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,450,000 after buying an additional 238,990 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 73.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 364,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,459,000 after buying an additional 154,659 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,555,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo Company Profile

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.