Erste Asset Management GmbH Boosts Stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 129.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,797 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,101 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $18,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in MercadoLibre by 352.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 94,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,137,000 after buying an additional 73,336 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in MercadoLibre by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 160 shares of the company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in MercadoLibre during the 3rd quarter worth about $140,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in MercadoLibre by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Platform Technology Partners purchased a new position in shares of MercadoLibre in the 3rd quarter valued at about $250,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MELI shares. Susquehanna upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,400.00 to $2,750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $2,402.81.

MercadoLibre Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MELI stock opened at $2,004.83 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $101.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1,958.74 and a 200-day moving average of $1,969.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1,324.99 and a 12-month high of $2,374.54.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $2.40. The business had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.94 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 51.89% and a net margin of 9.20%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MercadoLibre Company 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.