Daiwa Capital Markets Begins Coverage on MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI)

Key Points

• Daiwa Capital Markets has initiated coverage on MercadoLibre with a "buy" rating and a price target of $3,000.00, indicating a potential upside of 26.37% from its current price.
• MercadoLibre reported quarterly earnings of $9.74 per share, exceeding estimates, and experienced a 37.0% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• Currently, the stock has an average price target of $2,707.50 and is rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with thirteen buy ratings and one strong buy rating.

Analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Friday. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $3,000.00 price target on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets' price objective points to a potential upside of 26.37% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,100.00 to $3,000.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,640.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group set a $3,000.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Monday. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $3,500.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $2,707.50.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

MercadoLibre stock opened at $2,373.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $120.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.49. The company's 50 day moving average price is $2,458.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2,219.50. MercadoLibre has a 52 week low of $1,579.78 and a 52 week high of $2,645.22.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.82 by $1.92. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.55 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 48.46%. MercadoLibre's revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MercadoLibre will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MercadoLibre

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Key Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in MercadoLibre by 366.7% during the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 14 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 11 shares in the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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