Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) Short Interest Down 14.6% in February

by · The Cerbat Gem

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL – Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,230,000 shares, a decline of 14.6% from the February 13th total of 1,440,000 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 761,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Natalie Glance sold 9,020 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.59, for a total transaction of $2,621,121.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 130,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,989,702.47. This trade represents a 6.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Severin Hacker sold 10,000 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.82, for a total transaction of $3,368,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 72 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,251.04. The trade was a 99.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 90,499 shares of company stock valued at $31,512,968 over the last three months. 18.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Duolingo

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,994,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Duolingo in the 4th quarter valued at about $429,000. Taika Capital LP acquired a new position in Duolingo in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,697,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Duolingo by 42.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 342,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,530,000 after acquiring an additional 101,653 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Duolingo in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,350,000. 91.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Duolingo in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America cut shares of Duolingo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $275.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.25.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on DUOL

Duolingo Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of DUOL stock traded up $10.83 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $299.64. The company had a trading volume of 247,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 697,558. The company’s fifty day moving average is $348.55 and its 200 day moving average is $318.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 3.09 and a quick ratio of 3.09. Duolingo has a fifty-two week low of $145.05 and a fifty-two week high of $441.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.56 billion, a PE ratio of 163.89 and a beta of 0.92.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.19). Duolingo had a return on equity of 11.74% and a net margin of 12.59%. The business had revenue of $209.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.49 million. Research analysts expect that Duolingo will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duolingo Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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