Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) Short Interest Up 29.6% in December

Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 6,441,438 shares, an increase of 29.6% from the December 15th total of 4,970,210 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,204,086 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days. Approximately 17.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 17.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,204,086 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duolingo news, CFO Matthew Skaruppa sold 3,059 shares of Duolingo stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.76, for a total transaction of $537,649.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 37,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,588,715.12. This trade represents a 7.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Stephen C. Chen sold 1,514 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.87, for a total value of $266,267.18. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 31,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,547,291.54. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 43,169 shares of company stock valued at $8,457,951 over the last quarter. 15.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Duolingo in the second quarter valued at approximately $946,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Duolingo by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,647,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,495,733,000 after purchasing an additional 116,135 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duolingo in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,377,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Duolingo by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 124,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,997,000 after purchasing an additional 18,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duolingo by 117.0% during the second quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,811,000 after purchasing an additional 14,219 shares in the last quarter. 91.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duolingo Price Performance

Shares of DUOL traded down $4.26 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $150.16. 2,308,372 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,540,881. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $181.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $273.12. Duolingo has a 12-month low of $147.70 and a 12-month high of $544.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 2.82 and a current ratio of 2.82. The company has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.87.

Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $5.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $5.23. The company had revenue of $271.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $260.14 million. Duolingo had a net margin of 40.03% and a return on equity of 14.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 41.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. Research analysts expect that Duolingo will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on DUOL. Bank of America raised shares of Duolingo from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $301.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Duolingo in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Evercore ISI set a $330.00 price objective on Duolingo and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Duolingo from $600.00 to $300.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Duolingo from $220.00 to $205.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duolingo presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.50.

About Duolingo

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.