MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI – Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 741,400 shares, a decline of 32.6% from the September 15th total of 1,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 489,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
MELI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,575.00 to $1,625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MercadoLibre from $1,700.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on MercadoLibre from $1,500.00 to $1,550.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,600.00 to $1,700.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. Finally, New Street Research upgraded MercadoLibre from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $1,400.00 to $1,650.00 in a research report on Friday, September 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MercadoLibre presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,643.21.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On MercadoLibre
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,389,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,569,545,000 after acquiring an additional 262,306 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,205,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,612,439,000 after purchasing an additional 21,392 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 60.2% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 675,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $889,979,000 after buying an additional 253,864 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 6,564.6% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 665,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,508,000 after buying an additional 655,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in MercadoLibre by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 474,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,841,000 after buying an additional 111,751 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.01% of the company’s stock.
MercadoLibre Stock Performance
NASDAQ:MELI traded down $8.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $1,235.73. The stock had a trading volume of 107,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,300. MercadoLibre has a twelve month low of $754.76 and a twelve month high of $1,451.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,309.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,262.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.67, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.28.
MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.13 by $1.03. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 39.07% and a net margin of 6.23%. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that MercadoLibre will post 20.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
About MercadoLibre
MercadoLibre, Inc operates online commerce platforms in Latin America. It operates Mercado Libre Marketplace, an automated online commerce platform that enables businesses, merchants, and individuals to list merchandise and conduct sales and purchases online; 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.