MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $1,505.99, but opened at $1,620.00. MercadoLibre shares last traded at $1,661.46, with a volume of 545,625 shares traded.

The company reported $6.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 39.07% and a net margin of 6.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.97 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MELI shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,800.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on MercadoLibre from $1,990.00 to $1,940.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com lowered MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. DZ Bank upgraded MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,685.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,000.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,790.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MercadoLibre

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in MercadoLibre in the 1st quarter valued at $7,973,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in MercadoLibre in the 1st quarter valued at $873,000. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 118,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,426,000 after buying an additional 9,272 shares in the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 49.5% in the 1st quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 1,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 8.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,499.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,534.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.45.

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.