Benchmark Initiates Coverage on MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI)

Analysts at Benchmark began coverage on shares of MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $2,500.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.72% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MELI. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,650.00 to $2,560.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. New Street Research upgraded MercadoLibre from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $2,000.00 to $2,300.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded MercadoLibre from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $2,250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $2,415.00.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MELI opened at $2,037.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.25. MercadoLibre has a one year low of $1,324.99 and a one year high of $2,374.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2,037.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,957.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.04, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MercadoLibre

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in MercadoLibre by 8.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,687,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,868,869,000 after buying an additional 470,829 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,568,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,667,386,000 after buying an additional 308,973 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,394,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,370,848,000 after buying an additional 405,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in MercadoLibre by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 545,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $927,239,000 after acquiring an additional 2,048 shares during the period. 87.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.