MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 761,500 shares, an increase of 20.9% from the February 13th total of 629,800 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 406,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,150.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,400.00 to $2,750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $2,402.81.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ MELI opened at $2,065.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64. MercadoLibre has a 52-week low of $1,324.99 and a 52-week high of $2,374.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $1,984.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $1,970.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $2.40. The firm had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.94 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 51.89%. Equities research analysts expect that MercadoLibre will post 43.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in MercadoLibre in the third quarter valued at about $114,417,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 20.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 59,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,948,000 after buying an additional 10,272 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 157,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,897,000 after buying an additional 43,215 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,328,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 40.0% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 2,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is 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.