MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI Shares Sold by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 92.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,669 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,401 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $9,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MELI. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,225,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,481,812,000 after buying an additional 408,939 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 803.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 333,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,665,000 after buying an additional 296,543 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter worth about $597,045,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 202,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in MercadoLibre by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,481,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,012,773,000 after purchasing an additional 164,120 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of MELI stock opened at $1,674.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $84.88 billion, a PE ratio of 44.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1,713.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,867.47. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,495.00 and a 1-year high of $2,645.22.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $8.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.75 by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $8.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.29 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 6.04%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $9.74 EPS. On average, analysts predict that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 40.97 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MELI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,780.00 to $2,380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Daiwa Securities Group cut shares of MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $1,800.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,500.00 to $2,800.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,050.00 to $1,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,400.00 to $2,350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,255.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alejandro Nicolas Aguzin bought 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $1,655.93 per share, with a total value of $993,558.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,355 shares in the company, valued at $8,867,505.15. This represents a 12.62% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MercadoLibre 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.