MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI Shares Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 245,310 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,618 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $494,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,481,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,012,773,000 after purchasing an additional 164,120 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 3.4% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,816,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,244,604,000 after purchasing an additional 59,838 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 1.3% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,740,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,067,194,000 after acquiring an additional 22,659 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 9.8% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 572,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,432,565,000 after acquiring an additional 50,893 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 0.4% during the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 497,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,244,447,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MELI opened at $1,664.42 on Tuesday. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,495.00 and a twelve month high of $2,645.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,721.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1,914.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.39 billion, a PE ratio of 43.93, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.41.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $8.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by ($0.52). MercadoLibre had a net margin of 6.04% and a return on equity of 29.58%. The firm had revenue of $8.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $9.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 40.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MELI. Itau BBA Securities restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group reduced their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,050.00 to $1,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,600.00 to $2,450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research downgraded MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $2,100.00 target price on MercadoLibre in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,255.33.

About MercadoLibre

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.