MercadoLibre’s (MELI) “Outperform” Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wedbush in a report issued on Thursday,RTT News reports. They presently have a $2,200.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $2,000.00. Wedbush’s target price suggests a potential upside of 17.52% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MELI. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Friday, October 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $2,800.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,300.00 to $2,350.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,100.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Dbs Bank raised MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,309.67.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of MELI stock traded up $97.96 on Thursday, hitting $1,872.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,357,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,932. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.28. MercadoLibre has a twelve month low of $1,324.99 and a twelve month high of $2,161.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2,046.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,822.55. The firm has a market cap of $94.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.61.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.27 by ($3.44). MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 42.61% and a net margin of 7.57%. The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.25 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre will post 37.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in MercadoLibre by 20.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,794,000 after purchasing an additional 4,658 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 143.7% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 580 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 168.5% in the second quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 45,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,622,000 after purchasing an additional 28,494 shares during the period. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $875,000. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About MercadoLibre

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.