Employees Retirement System of Texas Buys 28,075 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 1,321.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,200 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 28,075 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.06% of MercadoLibre worth $51,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MELI. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,687,114 shares of the company's stock worth $2,868,869,000 after purchasing an additional 470,829 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,394,255 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,370,848,000 after acquiring an additional 405,425 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter worth about $565,306,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in MercadoLibre by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,568,602 shares of the company's stock worth $2,667,386,000 after purchasing an additional 308,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at about $383,051,000. 87.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on MELI shares. New Street Research raised shares of MercadoLibre from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $2,000.00 to $2,300.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,640.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $2,572.86.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

NASDAQ:MELI traded up $16.73 on Friday, reaching $2,562.22. 405,889 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 382,840. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2,225.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2,034.64. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,550.00 and a 12 month high of $2,635.88. The firm has a market cap of $129.90 billion, a PE ratio of 67.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.82 by $1.92. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 51.89% and a net margin of 9.20%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.78 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current year.

MercadoLibre Company 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.