KBC Group NV Trims Stock Position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

KBC Group NV trimmed its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 19.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,233 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,682 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned 0.08% of MercadoLibre worth $76,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in MercadoLibre by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,415,815 shares of the company's stock worth $4,108,079,000 after buying an additional 179,807 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,687,114 shares of the company's stock worth $2,868,869,000 after acquiring an additional 470,829 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 24.5% during 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 41.0% during the 4th 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 increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 545,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $927,239,000 after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MercadoLibre Stock Down 4.3%

Shares of MELI traded down $112.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $2,501.40. The stock had a trading volume of 573,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 388,456. The company has a market cap of $126.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.52, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $2,450.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,120.85. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,563.21 and a 1-year high of $2,645.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.82 by $1.92. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.55 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 48.46% and a net margin of 9.21%. MercadoLibre's revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MELI. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and set a $2,975.00 price target (up from $2,840.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $2,800.00 price objective (up previously from $2,450.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. UBS Group set a $3,000.00 target price on MercadoLibre in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,700.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $2,645.94.

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.