MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Raised to Buy at DZ Bank

DZ Bank upgraded shares of MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $1,685.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on MELI. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,990.00 to $1,940.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $2,000.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,000.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays cut their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,000.00 to $1,800.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut MercadoLibre from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MercadoLibre presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $1,790.36.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

MELI stock opened at $1,363.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $69.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.27. MercadoLibre has a 1 year low of $1,063.02 and a 1 year high of $1,825.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,530.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,527.51.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by ($3.41). The company had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 39.07% and a net margin of 6.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 42.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MercadoLibre will post 34.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MercadoLibre

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,558,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,243,832,000 after buying an additional 236,744 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in MercadoLibre by 1.3% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,233,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,831,721,000 after acquiring an additional 28,095 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in MercadoLibre by 74.8% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,162,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,838,964,000 after acquiring an additional 497,535 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in MercadoLibre by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,037,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,630,740,000 after acquiring an additional 4,317 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 750,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,179,787,000 after purchasing an additional 88,359 shares during the last quarter. 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.