MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Earns "Hold" Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group has restated its "hold" rating on MercadoLibre's stock, setting a target price of $2,800, indicating a potential upside of 19.99%.
• MercadoLibre's stock price fell 3.1% recently, trading at $2,333.53, with a market capitalization of $118.31 billion.
• The company's recent earnings report showed it missed consensus estimates, with earnings per share of $10.31, compared to the expected $12.01, despite revenue increasing 33.8% year-over-year.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating restated by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $2,800.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.91% from the stock's current price.

MELI has been the subject of a number of other reports. Benchmark downgraded MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,700.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $2,750.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $2,795.00.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MELI traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $2,335.13. 98,343 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 394,687. MercadoLibre has a 1 year low of $1,646.00 and a 1 year high of $2,645.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2,441.77 and a 200 day moving average of $2,238.33.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $10.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $12.01 by ($1.70). MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 43.06% and a net margin of 8.52%. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.48 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that MercadoLibre will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MercadoLibre

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new position in MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at about $561,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,680 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,549 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,948,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 18,809 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,984,000 after buying an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 1,634 shares of the company's stock worth $2,779,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. 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.