MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,640.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on MercadoLibre from $3,000.00 to $2,400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,521.33.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

MELI opened at $2,584.92 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.05 billion, a PE ratio of 68.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $2,135.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,999.88. MercadoLibre has a 52-week low of $1,550.00 and a 52-week high of $2,610.30. 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 (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.82 by $1.92. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.55 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 51.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.78 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that MercadoLibre will post 43.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in MercadoLibre by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,415,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,108,079,000 after acquiring an additional 179,807 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in MercadoLibre by 38.7% in the fourth 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 period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in MercadoLibre by 24.5% in the fourth 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 lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 405,425 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 18,731 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

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.