Azora Capital LP Purchases New Stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Key Points

• Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake of 10,677 shares in MercadoLibre, Inc. valued at approximately $20.8 million, making it the 22nd largest holding in their portfolio.
• MercadoLibre reported earnings of $10.31 per share, missing estimates of $12.01, while revenues increased by 33.8% year-over-year to $6.79 billion.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for MercadoLibre, with Barclays lowering its target to $3,000, while Scotiabank initiated coverage with a target of $3,500.

Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,677 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,829,000. MercadoLibre comprises 1.4% of Azora Capital LP's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 1.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,154,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,251,531,000 after buying an additional 18,731 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 22.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,113,881,000 after buying an additional 104,554 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 23.5% in the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 461,875 shares of the company's stock valued at $901,058,000 after buying an additional 87,912 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 454,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $772,255,000 after buying an additional 57,806 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 18.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 450,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $878,757,000 after buying an additional 70,834 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company's stock.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ MELI opened at $2,472.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $125.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock's 50-day moving average is $2,412.32 and its 200-day moving average is $2,285.35. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a one year low of $1,646.00 and a one year high of $2,645.22.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $10.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $12.01 by ($1.70). MercadoLibre had a net margin of 8.52% and a return on equity of 43.06%. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.48 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MELI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on 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. Scotiabank initiated coverage on MercadoLibre in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating and a $3,500.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 22nd. Wedbush set a $2,700.00 target price on MercadoLibre and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and set a $2,975.00 price target (up previously from $2,840.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MercadoLibre has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $2,817.22.

About MercadoLibre

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.

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