Benchmark Initiates Coverage on MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI)

Benchmark began coverage on shares of MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $2,500.00 price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on MELI. New Street Research upgraded shares of MercadoLibre from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $2,000.00 to $2,300.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna increased their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,400.00 to $2,750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush lowered their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,415.00.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of MELI stock opened at $2,118.32 on Tuesday. MercadoLibre has a fifty-two week low of $1,324.99 and a fifty-two week high of $2,374.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2,039.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,958.84. The company has a market cap of $107.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.19, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.62.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $2.40. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 51.89%. The company had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.94 billion. Research analysts forecast that MercadoLibre will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MercadoLibre

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in MercadoLibre by 220.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 16 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 16 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

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.