MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as high as $2,501.00 and last traded at $2,412.80, with a volume of 905959 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $2,262.09.

MELI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,000.00 to $2,400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,504.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MercadoLibre

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,687,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,868,869,000 after purchasing an additional 470,829 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 41.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter worth about $565,306,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 308,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at $383,051,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $2,081.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1,982.42. The firm has a market cap of $124.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.05, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.82 by $1.92. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 51.89%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.