MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $2,066.12, but opened at $2,001.51. MercadoLibre shares last traded at $1,977.01, with a volume of 48,383 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MELI shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $2,530.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Dbs Bank raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,025.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded MercadoLibre from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2,400.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,246.07.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,969.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1,723.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $10.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.53 by $1.95. The company had revenue of $5.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.64 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 43.52% and a net margin of 8.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 35.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MercadoLibre

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scotia Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter valued at $226,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 24,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,228,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,466,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 3,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,068,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently 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.