7,619 Shares in MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI Bought by GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.

Key Points

• GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. invested approximately $14.86 million in MercadoLibre, Inc., acquiring 7,619 shares during the first quarter.
• A significant number of institutional investors have increased their stakes in MercadoLibre, with Durable Capital Partners LP purchasing a new position valued at about $113 million.
• Wall Street analysts are generally optimistic about MercadoLibre, with multiple firms setting price targets as high as $3,000.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,864,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new position in MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter worth about $561,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,791 shares of the company's stock worth $18,350,000 after acquiring an additional 2,618 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 2,398 shares of the company's stock worth $4,078,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new position in MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter worth about $284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company's stock.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

MELI stock traded up $44.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $2,417.80. The company had a trading volume of 270,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,604. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $2,407.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2,295.49. The company has a market cap of $122.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.49. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,646.00 and a twelve month high of $2,645.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.20.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,850.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and set a $2,975.00 target price (up from $2,840.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 22nd. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $2,875.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Friday, August 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $3,000.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MercadoLibre has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $2,817.22.

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.