MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Shares Up 1.6% – Here’s What Happened

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) rose 1.6% on Friday . The company traded as high as $2,090.78 and last traded at $2,089.65. Approximately 49,515 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 345,155 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2,055.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MELI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,175.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of MercadoLibre from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2,400.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,480.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,300.00 to $2,350.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,301.67.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $2,044.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,775.88. The company has a market capitalization of $105.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.52, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.61.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $10.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $1.95. The firm had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 43.52%. The business’s revenue was up 41.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 37.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MELI. GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 442.2% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 794,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,201,679,000 after acquiring an additional 648,198 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 205,108.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 248,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,506,000 after purchasing an additional 248,181 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 43.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 771,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,167,073,000 after purchasing an additional 232,787 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,913,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 55.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 368,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $557,225,000 after purchasing an additional 132,028 shares in the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is owned by 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.