MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Receives Buy Rating from BTIG Research

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at BTIG Research in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $2,750.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research’s target price indicates a potential upside of 35.62% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,600.00 to $2,650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Susquehanna dropped their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,975.00 to $2,900.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on MercadoLibre in a report on Friday, August 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $3,000.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Monday, July 28th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $3,500.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,854.71.

MercadoLibre Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:MELI traded down $3.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $2,027.70. The company had a trading volume of 222,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 416,065. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.18. MercadoLibre has a 52 week low of $1,646.00 and a 52 week high of $2,645.22. The company has a market capitalization of $102.80 billion, a PE ratio of 49.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2,264.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $2,373.18.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $8.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.88 by ($1.56). The company had revenue of $7.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 41.35%. MercadoLibre’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that MercadoLibre will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MercadoLibre

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Lavaca Capital LLC increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 140,201.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 1,066,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,786,888,000 after buying an additional 1,065,530 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the 2nd quarter worth about $698,848,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 304.7% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 255,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,744,000 after buying an additional 192,071 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 1,669.4% during the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 181,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,666,000 after acquiring an additional 171,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in MercadoLibre by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 493,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,911,000 after buying an additional 109,228 shares during the period. 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.