Whale Rock Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL)

Whale Rock Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,368,782 shares of the company’s stock after selling 51,855 shares during the period. Duolingo makes up about 5.4% of Whale Rock Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC owned about 3.14% of Duolingo worth $386,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,663,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,085,000 after acquiring an additional 564,173 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,076,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,530,000 after buying an additional 36,923 shares during the period. Dragoneer Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo in the second quarter worth approximately $204,768,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Duolingo by 25.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 498,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,117,000 after acquiring an additional 100,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 153.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 395,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,450,000 after acquiring an additional 238,990 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on DUOL. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $250.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Duolingo from $183.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Duolingo in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $425.00 price objective for the company. Seaport Res Ptn cut Duolingo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $355.00 to $408.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $340.70.

Duolingo Stock Performance

DUOL opened at $373.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $307.07 and a 200-day moving average of $237.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a current ratio of 3.09. Duolingo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.05 and a 52-week high of $378.48. The company has a market cap of $16.41 billion, a PE ratio of 203.84 and a beta of 0.85.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.14. Duolingo had a return on equity of 11.74% and a net margin of 12.59%. The company had revenue of $192.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.19 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Natalie Glance sold 1,500 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $421,365.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 138,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,838,616.60. This trade represents a 1.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Meese sold 4,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.02, for a total value of $1,156,656.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 157,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,695,861.06. This trade represents a 2.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,819 shares of company stock worth $4,823,261 in the last quarter. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duolingo 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.