Candriam S.C.A. Buys 7,174 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 23.6% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 7,174 shares and now owning approximately 0.07% of the company, valued at $73,296,000.
• MercadoLibre has seen interest from several institutional investors, with Banco BTG Pactual S.A. and Capital Fund Management S.A. increasing their holdings by 75.0% and 633.5%, respectively.
• Despite missing earnings expectations for the last quarter with an EPS of $10.31 against a consensus estimate of $12.01, MercadoLibre reported a revenue increase of 33.8% year-over-year, totaling $6.79 billion.

Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 23.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,571 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,174 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.07% of MercadoLibre worth $73,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MELI. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Banco BTG Pactual S.A. now owns 4,801 shares of the company's stock worth $9,366,000 after buying an additional 2,057 shares in the last quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. grew its position in MercadoLibre by 633.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 14,171 shares of the company's stock worth $27,646,000 after purchasing an additional 12,239 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in MercadoLibre by 21.2% in the first quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 13,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,290 shares during the period. Carmignac Gestion boosted its position in MercadoLibre by 6.7% in the first quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 118,238 shares of the company's stock worth $230,699,000 after purchasing an additional 7,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Credit Agricole S A increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 126.4% during the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 17,420 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,984,000 after purchasing an additional 9,725 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $3,000.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wedbush set a $2,700.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,850.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $2,817.22.

MercadoLibre Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ MELI opened at $2,342.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $118.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.46. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a one year low of $1,646.00 and a one year high of $2,645.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2,411.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $2,267.19.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $10.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $12.01 by ($1.70). The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.57 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 43.06% and a net margin of 8.52%.The company's revenue was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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