MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Shares Gap Up to $1,585.03

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $1,585.03, but opened at $1,622.03. MercadoLibre shares last traded at $1,591.80, with a volume of 91,178 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on MELI shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,900.00 to $1,800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $1,400.00 to $2,100.00 in a research report on Monday, May 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. DZ Bank raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,685.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,000.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,881.92.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $1,591.35 and a 200-day moving average of $1,605.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.59, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $6.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.14. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 39.46% and a net margin of 7.17%. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 33.81 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MercadoLibre

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First PREMIER Bank bought a new stake in MercadoLibre in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.