First Trust Advisors LP Grows Position in MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,956 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $44,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MELI. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in MercadoLibre in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in MercadoLibre during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its stake in MercadoLibre by 100.0% during the third quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 16 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 35.7% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 19 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the third quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,800.00 to $2,600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings downgraded MercadoLibre from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,750.00 to $2,400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Dbs Bank upgraded MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,600.00 to $2,400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,762.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at MercadoLibre

In other news, Director Henrique Vasoncelos Dubugras sold 845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,028.14, for a total transaction of $1,713,778.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

Shares of MELI stock opened at $1,766.10 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $2,008.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2,127.73. The company has a market capitalization of $89.54 billion, a PE ratio of 44.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.48. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,654.24 and a twelve month high of $2,645.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $11.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.66 by ($0.63). MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 33.73% and a net margin of 6.91%.The firm had revenue of $8.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $12.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 44.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About MercadoLibre

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.