Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Stock Price

Key Points

• Citigroup has reduced its price target for MercadoLibre's stock from $2,900 to $2,850, while maintaining a "buy" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 19.75% from the stock's previous close.
• Multiple analysts have varied price targets for MercadoLibre, with Susquehanna setting it at $2,975, Goldman Sachs raising it to $3,000, and Barclays at $3,000 as well, indicating a consensus average price target of $2,817.22.
• MercadoLibre reported earnings of $10.31 per share for the last quarter, missing expectations, but its revenue increased by 33.8% year-over-year, highlighting its ongoing growth despite profitability challenges.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by analysts at Citigroup from $2,900.00 to $2,850.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's target price points to a potential upside of 21.93% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on MELI. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,100.00 to $3,000.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $2,700.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $3,500.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $2,750.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $2,875.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MercadoLibre presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $2,817.22.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MELI traded up $1.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $2,337.44. The company had a trading volume of 216,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,554. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. MercadoLibre has a twelve month low of $1,646.00 and a twelve month high of $2,645.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $2,410.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2,267.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.46.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $10.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $12.01 by ($1.70). The business had revenue of $6.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.57 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 43.06% and a net margin of 8.52%.The business's revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.48 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MercadoLibre

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Key Financial Inc bought a new stake in MercadoLibre in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in MercadoLibre in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Close Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in MercadoLibre by 366.7% in the 1st quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 14 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in MercadoLibre by 650.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 15 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.