Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires New Holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI has acquired a new stake in MercadoLibre, purchasing 120 shares valued at approximately $234,000 during the first quarter.
• MercadoLibre has experienced significant interest from institutional investors, with 87.62% of the stock currently held by such firms and notable acquisitions made by multiple hedge funds in the last quarter.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments, with Goldman Sachs raising its price target for MercadoLibre to $3,000 while other firms have adjusted their targets downwards, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target of $2,795.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position 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 fund acquired 120 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MELI. Banco Santander S.A. boosted its position in MercadoLibre by 221.9% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 2,746 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893 shares in the last quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 340 shares of the company's stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in MercadoLibre during the 1st quarter valued at $203,000. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd boosted its stake in MercadoLibre by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 3,249 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,525,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avant Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at $316,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $2,800.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,600.00 to $2,700.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,100.00 to $3,000.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $3,000.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $2,795.00.

MercadoLibre Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ MELI traded down $61.66 during trading on Monday, hitting $2,292.04. The stock had a trading volume of 351,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 343,773. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $116.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 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 simple moving average of $2,431.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2,250.90.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $10.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $12.01 by ($1.70). The company had revenue of $6.79 billion for 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 business's revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $10.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict 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.