Stephens Inc. AR Boosts Stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 18.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,453 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $2,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 375.0% in the 1st quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 19 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $2,975.00 price objective (up previously from $2,840.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group set a $3,000.00 price objective on MercadoLibre in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,700.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,645.94.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:MELI opened at $2,390.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2,491.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2,170.28. The stock has a market cap of $121.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.49. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,579.78 and a 1 year high of $2,645.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.20.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.82 by $1.92. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.55 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 48.46% and a net margin of 9.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.78 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.