MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $2,501.00 and last traded at $2,412.80, with a volume of 905959 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $2,262.09.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of MercadoLibre from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $2,250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Benchmark downgraded MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $2,504.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in MercadoLibre by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,415,815 shares of the company's stock worth $4,108,079,000 after purchasing an additional 179,807 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,687,114 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,868,869,000 after acquiring an additional 470,829 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in MercadoLibre by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,568,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,667,386,000 after acquiring an additional 308,973 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in MercadoLibre by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,394,255 shares of the company's stock worth $2,370,848,000 after acquiring an additional 405,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in MercadoLibre by 1.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,154,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,251,531,000 after purchasing an additional 18,731 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $124.34 billion, a PE ratio of 65.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $2,081.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,982.03.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.82 by $1.92. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.55 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 51.89%. The company's revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.78 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.