MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,015 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,685 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $47,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MercadoLibre in the 2nd quarter valued at about $698,848,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 21.2% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 550,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,073,823,000 after acquiring an additional 96,283 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 461,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $901,058,000 after acquiring an additional 87,912 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,235,240 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,228,460,000 after purchasing an additional 81,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $198,244,000. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MELI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,600.00 to $2,650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,850.00 to $2,700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,000.00 to $2,900.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $2,750.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MercadoLibre has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $2,848.82.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

NASDAQ MELI opened at $2,088.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $105.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.42. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1,646.00 and a 52-week high of $2,645.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $2,138.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $2,327.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $8.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.88 by ($1.56). MercadoLibre had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 39.03%. The company had revenue of $7.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current year.

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.