Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 49,322 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 25.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 142,668 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,322 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of MercadoLibre worth $372,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ninety One North America Inc. lifted its position in MercadoLibre by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 6,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,927,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 221.9% in the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893 shares during the period. Stratos Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 434.3% in the 2nd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,899,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. 87.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MELI shares. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,975.00 to $2,900.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Wedbush set a $2,700.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $2,875.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,850.00 to $2,700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $3,500.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,799.12.

MercadoLibre Stock Up 0.6%

MercadoLibre stock opened at $2,161.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $109.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,646.00 and a twelve month high of $2,645.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $2,315.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2,362.09.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $10.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $12.01 by ($1.70). The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.57 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 43.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current year.

MercadoLibre Profile

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.