GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Raises Position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,891 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $19,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,415,815 shares of the company's stock worth $4,108,079,000 after purchasing an additional 179,807 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake 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 valued at $2,868,869,000 after buying an additional 470,829 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,568,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,667,386,000 after buying an additional 308,973 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted 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 worth $2,370,848,000 after purchasing an additional 405,425 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 545,292 shares of the company's stock worth $927,239,000 after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares during the period. 87.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MELI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,640.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $2,800.00 target price (up previously from $2,450.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and set a $2,975.00 target price (up previously from $2,840.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group set a $3,000.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $2,645.94.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of MercadoLibre stock traded up $34.98 on Friday, hitting $2,507.03. 194,179 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 388,884. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2,469.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2,132.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.11 billion, a PE ratio of 61.66, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.49. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,579.78 and a 1 year high of $2,645.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.20.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.82 by $1.92. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.55 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 48.46%. The company's revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS 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.