MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• MercadoLibre shares fell sharply at the open, dropping from a prior close of $1,810.15 to $1,578.25 before last trading at $1,603.61.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: 12 analysts rate the stock Buy and six Hold, producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $2,251.88, despite several recent target-price cuts.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $9.19 in EPS versus an $8.65 estimate and $10.17 billion in revenue versus a $9.79 billion forecast; revenue increased 49.8% year over year. Institutional investors own 87.62% of the stock.

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Monday. The stock had previously closed at $1,810.15, but opened at $1,578.25. MercadoLibre shares last traded at $1,603.61, with a volume of 532,749 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MELI. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,150.00 to $2,100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Zacks Research raised shares of MercadoLibre from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,300.00 to $2,200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre to $2,400.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $2,251.88.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $82.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.31, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,862.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,789.27.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $9.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.65 by $0.54. The company had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 26.54% and a net margin of 5.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 49.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.31 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 38.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MELI. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 14.9% during the third quarter. Davidson Kahn Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the company's stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the company's stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 174 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 26.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 447 shares of the company's stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 287 shares of the company's stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.62% of the company's stock.

MercadoLibre Company Profile

MercadoLibre, Inc is a technology company that operates an online commerce and financial services ecosystem across Latin America. Founded in 1999 by Marcos Galperin, the company initially developed an online marketplace and has expanded into a broad platform connecting buyers and sellers with businesses and consumers.

Its commerce operations include the MercadoLibre marketplace, where users can purchase and sell products across numerous categories. The company also offers supporting services such as Mercado Envíos for shipping and logistics, Mercado Ads for digital advertising, and tools for merchants to manage their online businesses.

MercadoLibre's financial technology business is centered on Mercado Pago, which provides digital payment processing, online checkout, money transfer and account services.

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