Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $375.78, but opened at $325.06. Duolingo shares last traded at $306.25, with a volume of 608,057 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $209.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $205.49 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 11.74% and a net margin of 12.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on DUOL shares. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Duolingo from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duolingo from $400.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Duolingo from $351.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Duolingo from $275.00 to $340.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Duolingo from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $355.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $375.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duolingo

In other news, CEO Ahn Luis Von sold 41,759 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.29, for a total transaction of $14,210,170.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 5,000 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.48, for a total value of $1,622,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 67,730 shares in the company, valued at $21,977,030.40. The trade was a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 305,639 shares of company stock worth $105,445,057. Corporate insiders own 18.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DUOL. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duolingo during the 3rd quarter worth $568,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in Duolingo by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 4,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Duolingo by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 27,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,746,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Duolingo by 142.3% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Duolingo by 164.6% in 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 Stock Down 0.4 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $357.93 and a 200-day moving average of $313.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 160.74 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 3.09 and a current ratio of 3.09.

About Duolingo

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.