MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $1,805.00.

Several brokerages have issued reports on MELI. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,800.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,850.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. DZ Bank raised MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,685.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Citigroup cut their target price on MercadoLibre from $1,990.00 to $1,940.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on MercadoLibre from $1,900.00 to $1,800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Institutional Trading of MercadoLibre

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 99.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 53,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,900,000 after buying an additional 26,679 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 0.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,964,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 1.5% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 89,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 2.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 178,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,716,000 after purchasing an additional 4,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in MercadoLibre by 112,333.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 146,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,703,000 after buying an additional 146,034 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of MELI stock opened at $1,688.69 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1,501.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $1,549.14. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.61 billion, a PE ratio of 75.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.45. MercadoLibre has a 52-week low of $1,063.02 and a 52-week high of $1,825.00.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $6.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.14. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 42.04% and a net margin of 7.17%. The business had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MercadoLibre will post 34.46 EPS for the current year.

MercadoLibre Company Profile

MercadoLibre, Inc operates online commerce platforms in the United States. It operates Mercado Libre Marketplace, an automated online commerce platform that enables businesses, merchants, and individuals to list merchandise and conduct sales and purchases digitally; and Mercado Pago FinTech platform, a financial technology solution platform, which facilitates transactions on and off its marketplaces by providing a mechanism that allows its users to send and receive payments online, as well as allows users to transfer money through their websites or on the apps.