Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Increases Position in MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,461 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,435 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ owned about 0.06% of MercadoLibre worth $49,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in MercadoLibre during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at MercadoLibre

In related news, Director Alejandro Nicolas Aguzin bought 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $1,655.93 per share, for a total transaction of $993,558.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 5,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,867,505.15. This represents a 12.62% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MELI. Barclays lowered their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $2,300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $2,000.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup downgraded shares of MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $2,200.00 to $1,950.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,500.00 to $2,800.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $2,800.00 to $2,600.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,255.33.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 0.5%

MELI opened at $1,683.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.16. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a one year low of $1,495.00 and a one year high of $2,645.22. The company has a market cap of $85.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.42, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,684.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,838.79.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted 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 business 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%.MercadoLibre’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $9.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 40.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MercadoLibre Company 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.