Employees Retirement System of Texas Buys 6,200 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its MercadoLibre stake by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 6,200 shares and bringing its total holdings to 40,184 shares valued at about $80.9 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their positions, and overall institutional ownership in MercadoLibre stands at 87.62%.
• MercadoLibre shares were down 1.0% to $1,648.04, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $2,255.33; the company also recently reported revenue growth of 49% year over year, though earnings missed estimates.

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,184 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,200 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.08% of MercadoLibre worth $80,941,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 803.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 333,455 shares of the company's stock valued at $671,665,000 after purchasing an additional 296,543 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 1,669.4% during the third quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 181,719 shares of the company's stock worth $424,666,000 after buying an additional 171,449 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 3,481,563 shares of the company's stock worth $7,012,773,000 after buying an additional 164,120 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 28.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 493,770 shares of the company's stock worth $1,153,911,000 after buying an additional 109,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 29.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 418,002 shares of the company's stock worth $976,846,000 after buying an additional 93,854 shares in the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MercadoLibre

In other news, Director Alejandro Nicolas Aguzin purchased 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $1,655.93 per share, for a total transaction of $993,558.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,355 shares in the company, valued at $8,867,505.15. The trade was a 12.62% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MELI shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $2,100.00 target price on MercadoLibre in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,500.00 to $2,800.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial set a $2,000.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of MercadoLibre from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $2,800.00 to $2,600.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $2,300.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MercadoLibre has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $2,255.33.

MercadoLibre Stock Down 1.0%

MELI stock opened at $1,648.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $83.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.41. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,495.00 and a twelve month high of $2,645.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1,720.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,909.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $8.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $8.75 by ($0.52). MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 6.04%.The company had revenue of $8.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.74 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 49.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 40.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About MercadoLibre

MercadoLibre, Inc operates an integrated e-commerce and fintech ecosystem serving consumers and businesses across Latin America. The company provides an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers for a wide range of goods and services, supported by tools for merchants, advertising, and classifieds. Over time MercadoLibre has expanded beyond its marketplace roots into complementary areas that support digital commerce end to end.

Key offerings include its marketplace platform and a suite of logistics and payment services.

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