Cantor Fitzgerald Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) Stock

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) had its target price raised by Cantor Fitzgerald from $2,150.00 to $3,000.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 31.43% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on MELI. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $2,450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James raised MercadoLibre from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $2,250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, MercadoLibre has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $2,364.06.

MercadoLibre Stock Up 8.2 %

Shares of MELI traded up $172.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $2,282.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 762,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 355,920. The company has a fifty day moving average of $1,858.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,952.94. MercadoLibre has a twelve month low of $1,324.99 and a twelve month high of $2,374.54. The company has a market cap of $115.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $2.40. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 40.71% and a net margin of 7.57%. The company had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.94 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MercadoLibre will post 32.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Emiliano Calemzuk sold 50 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,984.98, for a total value of $99,249.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $472,425.24. This represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MELI. Swedbank AB increased its position in MercadoLibre by 352.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 94,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,137,000 after purchasing an additional 73,336 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in MercadoLibre by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 260 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust acquired a new position in MercadoLibre in the 3rd quarter worth about $271,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in MercadoLibre by 205,108.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 248,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $509,506,000 after purchasing an additional 248,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. increased its position in MercadoLibre by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 181 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.