MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Lifted to “Buy” at DZ Bank

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) was upgraded by analysts at DZ Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $1,685.00 target price on the stock. DZ Bank’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 23.15% from the company’s current price.

MELI has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Susquehanna raised their target price on MercadoLibre from $1,850.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $2,000.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,804.64.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

NASDAQ MELI opened at $1,368.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.02, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.44. MercadoLibre has a 1-year low of $1,063.02 and a 1-year high of $1,825.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $1,552.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,528.67.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by ($3.41). The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.14 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 39.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 42.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MercadoLibre will post 35.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MercadoLibre

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 74.8% during 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at about $554,386,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 10.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,558,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,243,832,000 after purchasing an additional 236,744 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 112,333.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 146,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,703,000 after buying an additional 146,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in MercadoLibre by 1,432.2% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 127,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,140,000 after buying an additional 119,043 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.