Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Increases Stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 857.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,110 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,636 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $24,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MELI. Capital International Investors grew its position in MercadoLibre by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,687,114 shares of the company's stock worth $2,868,869,000 after purchasing an additional 470,829 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,394,255 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,370,848,000 after purchasing an additional 405,425 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter worth approximately $565,306,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,568,602 shares of the company's stock worth $2,667,386,000 after buying an additional 308,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $383,051,000. Institutional investors own 87.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MELI shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,650.00 to $2,560.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,400.00 to $2,750.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on MercadoLibre from $3,000.00 to $2,400.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $2,464.67.

MercadoLibre Stock Up 2.0 %

MercadoLibre stock traded up $43.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $2,252.32. The stock had a trading volume of 114,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,122. The company has a market cap of $114.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.67, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.62. The business's 50 day moving average price is $2,053.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,965.98. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 52 week low of $1,419.86 and a 52 week high of $2,374.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $2.40. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 51.89%. The company had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.94 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current 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.