MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) Short Interest Up 19.3% in March

MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,062,760 shares, a growth of 19.3% from the February 26th total of 891,079 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 647,462 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MELI. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,750.00 to $2,400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered MercadoLibre from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $2,650.00 to $2,100.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised MercadoLibre from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,708.67.

MercadoLibre Stock Down 0.6%

MELI traded down $10.01 on Wednesday, reaching $1,719.01. 577,880 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 593,429. The company has a market cap of $87.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.63, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1,885.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $2,053.42. MercadoLibre has a 52-week low of $1,593.21 and a 52-week high of $2,645.22.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $11.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.66 by ($0.63). MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 33.73% and a net margin of 6.91%.The company had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $12.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 44.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MercadoLibre will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of MercadoLibre

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MELI. Lavaca Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 140,201.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 1,066,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,786,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,530 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in MercadoLibre by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,225,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,481,812,000 after buying an additional 408,939 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in MercadoLibre by 803.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 333,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,665,000 after buying an additional 296,543 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter worth approximately $597,045,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 184.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 311,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,083,000 after buying an additional 202,322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Company Profile

MercadoLibre, Inc operates an integrated e-commerce and fintech ecosystem serving consumers and businesses across Latin America. The company provides an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers for a wide range of goods and services, supported by tools for merchants, advertising, and classifieds. Over time MercadoLibre has expanded beyond its marketplace roots into complementary areas that support digital commerce end to end.

Key offerings include its marketplace platform and a suite of logistics and payment services.