Bank of America Corp DE Acquires Shares of 171,526 MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 171,526 MercadoLibre shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $291.1 million, giving it a 0.34% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 87.62% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 11 Buy ratings and six Holds. MercadoLibre has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,272.
• MercadoLibre exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $9.19 in earnings per share and $10.17 billion in revenue, with revenue up 49.8% year over year.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 171,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $291,146,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.34% of MercadoLibre at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in MercadoLibre by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,225,031 shares of the company's stock worth $4,481,812,000 after acquiring an additional 408,939 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in MercadoLibre by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,725,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,474,880,000 after buying an additional 118,018 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in MercadoLibre in the second quarter valued at about $2,246,015,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in MercadoLibre by 1.7% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 614,238 shares of the company's stock worth $1,062,019,000 after buying an additional 10,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linonia Partnership LP grew its stake in MercadoLibre by 325.1% during the second quarter. Linonia Partnership LP now owns 553,788 shares of the company's stock worth $939,994,000 after buying an additional 423,527 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MercadoLibre from $1,900.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,150.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $2,150.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $2,272.00.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

Shares of MELI stock opened at $1,839.71 on Thursday. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,495.00 and a 1 year high of $2,548.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm's 50 day moving average is $1,880.94 and its 200-day moving average is $1,768.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.03, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.31.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $9.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.65 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $10.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 26.54%. MercadoLibre's revenue for the quarter was up 49.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 39.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MercadoLibre Company Profile

MercadoLibre, Inc is a technology company that operates an online commerce and financial services ecosystem across Latin America. Founded in 1999 by Marcos Galperin, the company began as an online marketplace and has expanded into a broad platform serving consumers, merchants and businesses.

Its marketplace enables users to buy and sell products across categories, while Mercado Pago provides digital payments, online checkout, money transfers and other financial services. The company also offers Mercado Envíos logistics and fulfillment services, Mercado Ads advertising solutions, and credit products through Mercado Crédito.

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