Duolingo CTO Severin Hacker Sells Over $5M Stock, Shares Drop

Duolingo (DUOL) co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Severin Hacker has sold company shares worth $5.3 million, according to a securities filing, his latest divestiture this year.

Hacker sold 10,000 shares in a transaction carried out on June 5.

With the latest transaction, Hacker has offloaded over $12 million worth of shares this year.

While insider share sales are generally considered negative news and signal a potential stock downside, top executives occasionally sell shares for purely compensatory reasons.

Shares fell 3% on Monday.

The latest sale comes at a time of strength for the company and its stock, which currently trades around an all-time high.

Last month, Duolingo reported first-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations, earning upgrades from several analysts.

The language learning platform's revenue grew 38%, and its profit increased, driven by higher subscriptions and revenue per subscriber.

Morgan Stanley recently called it the 'Best-In-Class' Internet stock and upgraded its rating to 'Overweight.'

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for Duolingo rose to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ the previous day. 

A user called the stock a “growth monster.”

One of the best performers this year, Duolingo stock is up 54% year-to-date compared to the 2.1% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 Index (SPX).

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