FORA Capital LLC Makes New $4.05 Million Investment in MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,051,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,235,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,228,460,000 after acquiring an additional 81,124 shares during the last quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC grew its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 140,201.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 1,066,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,786,888,000 after buying an additional 1,065,530 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 21.2% during 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 valued at $1,073,823,000 after purchasing an additional 96,283 shares in the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP raised its stake in MercadoLibre by 3.3% during the first quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 530,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,035,061,000 after buying an additional 16,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in MercadoLibre by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 521,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,363,878,000 after purchasing an additional 74,201 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MELI. UBS Group decreased their price target on MercadoLibre from $3,000.00 to $2,900.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,875.00 to $2,780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,850.00 to $2,950.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,700.00 to $2,800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MercadoLibre currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,848.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Emiliano Calemzuk sold 45 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,027.37, for a total transaction of $91,231.65. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $521,034.09. This represents a 14.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stelleo Tolda sold 246 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,047.88, for a total value of $503,778.48. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MELI opened at $2,015.89 on Friday. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a one year low of $1,646.00 and a one year high of $2,645.22. The firm has a market cap of $102.21 billion, a PE ratio of 49.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $2,121.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2,314.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.17.

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