MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• MercadoLibre, Inc. has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from 17 brokerages, with 14 rating it a buy and one a strong buy, while the average 12-month target price is $2,810.88.
• Lavaca Capital LLC significantly increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 140,201.3%, now owning over 1 million shares valued at approximately $2.79 billion.
• The company's most recent earnings report showed a revenue increase of 33.8% year-over-year, with earnings per share of $10.31, missing expectations of $12.01.

Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $2,810.8824.

Several research analysts have issued reports on MELI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,700.00 to $2,600.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,700.00 to $2,900.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Friday, August 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $3,000.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,850.00 to $2,700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th.

Institutional Trading of MercadoLibre

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MELI. Lavaca Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MercadoLibre in the second quarter worth about $698,848,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 304.7% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 255,103 shares of the company's stock worth $666,744,000 after acquiring an additional 192,071 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 22.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,967 shares of the company's stock worth $1,113,881,000 after acquiring an additional 104,554 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 550,433 shares of the company's stock worth $1,073,823,000 after purchasing an additional 96,283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company's stock.

MercadoLibre Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ MELI opened at $2,157.82 on Wednesday. MercadoLibre has a 52 week low of $1,646.00 and a 52 week high of $2,645.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $2,354.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2,347.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.29, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.46.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $10.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.48 earnings per share. MercadoLibre's revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that MercadoLibre will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current year.

MercadoLibre Company Profile

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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