MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Hits New 52-Week High After Strong Earnings

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $2,364.59 and last traded at $2,266.72, with a volume of 145575 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $2,110.47.

The company reported $12.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $2.40. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 7.57% and a return on equity of 40.71%. The business had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.94 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MELI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of MercadoLibre from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $2,250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,150.00 to $1,950.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. New Street Research raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $2,000.00 to $2,300.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $2,364.06.

Insider Transactions at MercadoLibre

In other news, Director Emiliano Calemzuk sold 50 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,984.98, for a total value of $99,249.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $472,425.24. The trade was a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MELI. Human Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 220.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 16 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 11 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 16 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Stock Up 7.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1,867.29 and its 200-day moving average is $1,956.30. The company has a market cap of $114.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.62.

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.