MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI Shares Acquired by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 34.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 60,610 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,555 shares during the period. MercadoLibre makes up about 1.5% of Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $104,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MELI. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,481,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,012,773,000 after buying an additional 164,120 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings 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 worth $4,481,812,000 after acquiring an additional 408,939 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,725,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,474,880,000 after acquiring an additional 118,018 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,583,071 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,188,718,000 after acquiring an additional 137,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 604,096 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,216,807,000 after acquiring an additional 126,294 shares in the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of MELI stock traded up $44.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $1,852.22. 406,269 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 405,449. The stock has a market cap of $93.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.88, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,495.00 and a fifty-two week high of $2,548.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $1,675.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,827.82.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $8.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.75 by ($0.52). MercadoLibre had a net margin of 6.04% and a return on equity of 29.58%. The business had revenue of $8.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $9.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 40.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MercadoLibre news, Director Alejandro Nicolas Aguzin purchased 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, for a total transaction of $993,558.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,867,505.15. This represents a 12.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on MELI shares. Barclays dropped 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. Daiwa Securities Group lowered shares of MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $1,800.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,500.00 to $2,800.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $2,800.00 to $2,600.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,255.33.

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.