Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd Buys Shares of 8,277 Duolingo, Inc. $DUOL

Hel Ved Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,664,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DUOL. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Duolingo by 583.4% in the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 7,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 6,557 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Duolingo during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $252,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Duolingo by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 120,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,730,000 after buying an additional 10,103 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 0.9% in the third quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 32,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,518,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council acquired a new position in shares of Duolingo in the third quarter worth $2,028,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.59% of the company’s stock.

Duolingo News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Duolingo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI-first growth: Zacks highlights Duolingo’s AI-driven platform, ~50M daily active users and $1B in bookings, arguing its data moat and new AI courses/subscriptions support an ambition to reach 100M DAUs — a clear growth thesis that could re-accelerate monetization and revenue. Duolingo’s AI-First Strategy & Data Secures Dominance in Ed-Tech
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: Director James H. Shelton purchased 5,000 shares at roughly $99.76, signaling management-level confidence and providing short-term sentiment support. James Shelton Buys 5,000 Shares of Duolingo
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation/financial reset view: A Seeking Alpha piece frames the stock’s drop as a reset — notes $1.12B cash, minimal debt and very healthy margins (~72% gross, ~40% net) — suggesting the balance sheet and profitability give runway to invest in user growth without solvency risk. Duolingo’s Reset Opportunity
• Neutral Sentiment: Options activity: Analysts flag moves in the options market that could presage larger directional bets or volatility, but options flow is not definitive about fundamentals. Is the Options Market Predicting a Spike in Duolingo Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest report appears inconsistent (reported as a large increase but shows zero shares), so current short-interest impact is unclear — monitor reliable short data for true positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/securities probes: Faruqi & Faruqi and Pomerantz have launched investigations into Duolingo relating to recent market moves — these class-action inquiries increase legal risk and can pressure sentiment and liquidity until resolved. Faruqi & Faruqi Launches Investigation into Duolingo Pomerantz Investigates Claims
• Negative Sentiment: Institutional trim: Gilder Gagnon Howe reduced its position by ~66,397 shares (~$15.7M) last quarter — a meaningful sale from an active investor that can weigh on sentiment if others follow. Gilder Gagnon Howe Dumps 66,000 Duolingo Shares
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive/customer anecdote: A Lifehacker piece recounts a user switching to Babbel for better learning outcomes — anecdotal but a reminder of competition in retention/engagement metrics that underpin long-term monetization. I Ditched Duolingo for Babbel

Insider Activity

In other Duolingo news, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.26, for a total transaction of $215,307.26. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 30,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,459,526.70. This trade represents a 5.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Meese sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.06, for a total transaction of $110,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 122,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,497,318.16. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 14,939 shares of company stock worth $1,676,291 over the last 90 days. 15.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on DUOL shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Duolingo from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised Duolingo to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Duolingo from $185.00 to $160.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Duolingo from $300.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $206.32.

Duolingo Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ DUOL opened at $101.92 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $136.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $216.37. The stock has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Duolingo, Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.99 and a 52-week high of $544.93.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $282.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $275.95 million. Duolingo had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 39.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Duolingo Company Profile

Duolingo, Inc (NASDAQ:DUOL) is a technology-driven education company that operates a widely used language-learning platform. Founded in 2011 by Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker, Duolingo offers a freemium service featuring bite-sized lessons, gamified exercises and adaptive learning algorithms. The company’s core product is its mobile and web application, which supports instruction in more than 40 languages, ranging from widely spoken tongues such as English and Spanish to lesser-taught options including Irish and Swahili.

In addition to its flagship language courses, Duolingo has expanded its product suite to include the Duolingo English Test, an on-demand, computer-based English proficiency exam designed for academic and professional admissions.