MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) Stock Position Lifted by Allen Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Allen Investment Management LLC increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 19.6%, now owning a total of 36,706 shares valued at approximately $71.6 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Bearing Point Capital LLC and Mediolanum International Funds Ltd, have also significantly increased their positions in MercadoLibre during the first quarter.
• Despite recent increases in target prices from firms like Susquehanna and Jefferies, Benchmark downgraded MercadoLibre's rating to "cautious," highlighting a mixed sentiment among analysts.

Allen Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 19.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,706 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,016 shares during the quarter. MercadoLibre comprises about 0.8% of Allen Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Allen Investment Management LLC owned about 0.07% of MercadoLibre worth $71,609,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bearing Point Capital LLC raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 221.6% during the first quarter. Bearing Point Capital LLC now owns 1,965 shares of the company's stock worth $3,833,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 0.3% during the first quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,021 shares of the company's stock worth $5,893,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 84.2% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the company's stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 34.1% during the first quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 12,454 shares of the company's stock worth $25,507,000 after purchasing an additional 3,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the first quarter worth approximately $9,247,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark lowered shares of MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Monday. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $3,500.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $2,690.29.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MELI traded up $4.60 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $2,389.50. 81,797 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 389,304. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.20. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1,579.78 and a 12-month high of $2,645.22. The firm has a market cap of $121.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.49. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $2,467.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $2,213.97.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.82 by $1.92. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 48.46% and a net margin of 9.21%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.78 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MercadoLibre 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.