MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) Short Interest Update

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 692,000 shares, a growth of 26.8% from the May 31st total of 545,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 354,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

MercadoLibre Stock Down 1.1 %

MercadoLibre stock traded down $17.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1,643.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 249,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 280,272. MercadoLibre has a fifty-two week low of $1,063.02 and a fifty-two week high of $1,825.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $83.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,616.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,607.27.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $6.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.64 by $0.14. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 39.46% and a net margin of 7.17%. The business had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that MercadoLibre will post 33.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MELI. Citigroup cut their price target on MercadoLibre from $1,990.00 to $1,940.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. New Street Research lowered MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on 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. Barclays raised their price target on MercadoLibre from $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,685.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,881.92.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MercadoLibre

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,558,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,243,832,000 after acquiring an additional 236,744 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 74.8% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,162,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,838,964,000 after purchasing an additional 497,535 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,037,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,630,740,000 after purchasing an additional 4,317 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 845,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,278,738,000 after purchasing an additional 95,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 442.2% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 794,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,201,679,000 after purchasing an additional 648,198 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

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.