Inspire Investing LLC Makes New Investment in MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Key Points

• Inspire Investing LLC has acquired a new position in MercadoLibre, Inc., purchasing 324 shares valued at approximately $632,000 in Q1.
• Several institutional investors, including Jennison Associates LLC and Invesco Ltd., have increased their stakes in MercadoLibre, with institutional ownership now at 87.62%.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on MercadoLibre, with price targets ranging from $2,600 to $2,975 while the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 324 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $632,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,154,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,251,531,000 after acquiring an additional 18,731 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,967 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,113,881,000 after purchasing an additional 104,554 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 550,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,073,823,000 after purchasing an additional 96,283 shares during the last quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Generation Investment Management LLP now owns 530,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,035,061,000 after purchasing an additional 16,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in MercadoLibre by 23.5% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 461,875 shares of the company's stock worth $901,058,000 after acquiring an additional 87,912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,850.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,600.00 to $2,700.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $2,750.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and issued a $2,975.00 target price (up previously from $2,840.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MercadoLibre currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $2,817.22.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

Shares of MercadoLibre stock opened at $2,339.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $118.61 billion, a PE ratio of 57.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.49. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1,646.00 and a 12-month high of $2,645.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $2,384.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,306.83.

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

About MercadoLibre

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.

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