Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,154 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $4,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Key Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Close Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 366.7% during the first quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 14 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 11 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $3,000.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Monday. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $3,500.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $2,800.00 target price (up previously from $2,450.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,100.00 to $3,000.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $2,707.50.

MercadoLibre Stock Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:MELI traded up $15.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $2,389.25. The company had a trading volume of 152,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,755. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $121.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.49. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $2,458.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,219.50. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,646.00 and a twelve month high of $2,645.22.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.82 by $1.92. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 48.46%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.78 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current 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.