Short Interest in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) Grows By 6.6%

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, a growth of 6.6% from the December 15th total of 1,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 528,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 3.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Duolingo Stock Up 2.7 %

NASDAQ:DUOL traded up $9.33 on Friday, hitting $351.13. The stock had a trading volume of 742,361 shares, compared to its average volume of 425,176. The company has a quick ratio of 3.09, a current ratio of 3.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Duolingo has a 52 week low of $145.05 and a 52 week high of $378.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $337.06 and its 200 day moving average is $268.90. The company has a market cap of $15.45 billion, a PE ratio of 191.88 and a beta of 0.87.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $192.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.19 million. Duolingo had a net margin of 12.59% and a return on equity of 11.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 39.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.06 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duolingo will post 2.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Duolingo from $370.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities downgraded Duolingo from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America downgraded Duolingo from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Duolingo from $271.00 to $351.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.90.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 4,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.55, for a total transaction of $1,399,687.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,837,054.30. This trade represents a 6.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ahn Luis Von sold 41,759 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.29, for a total value of $14,210,170.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 271,124 shares of company stock valued at $91,694,238. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Duolingo

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mount Lucas Management LP raised its stake in shares of Duolingo by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 1,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Duolingo by 3.1% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Duolingo by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 180 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Duolingo by 3.9% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 1,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Duolingo by 164.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. 91.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.