MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $2,842.9412.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Zacks Research raised MercadoLibre from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,800.00 to $2,900.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,850.00 to $2,700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,000.00 to $2,900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Emiliano Calemzuk sold 45 shares of MercadoLibre stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,027.37, for a total transaction of $91,231.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 257 shares in the company, valued at $521,034.09. This trade represents a 14.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henrique Vasoncelos Dubugras sold 845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,028.14, for a total transaction of $1,713,778.30. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 1,136 shares of company stock worth $2,308,788 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MercadoLibre

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Lavaca Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 140,201.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 1,066,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,786,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,530 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MercadoLibre in the second quarter worth $698,848,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 304.7% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 255,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $666,744,000 after buying an additional 192,071 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 1,669.4% during the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 181,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,666,000 after buying an additional 171,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 493,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,153,911,000 after buying an additional 109,228 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

MercadoLibre stock opened at $2,005.71 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2,088.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2,275.17. MercadoLibre has a 12 month low of $1,693.01 and a 12 month high of $2,645.22. The company has a market capitalization of $101.69 billion, a PE ratio of 48.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $8.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.88 by ($1.56). The company had revenue of $7.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.19 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 39.03%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.83 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MercadoLibre will post 43.96 EPS for the current year.

About MercadoLibre

MercadoLibre, Inc operates an integrated e-commerce and fintech ecosystem serving consumers and businesses across Latin America. The company provides an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers for a wide range of goods and services, supported by tools for merchants, advertising, and classifieds. Over time MercadoLibre has expanded beyond its marketplace roots into complementary areas that support digital commerce end to end.

Key offerings include its marketplace platform and a suite of logistics and payment services.