Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Cuts Stock Position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Key Points

• Lord Abbett & CO. LLC reduced its stake in MercadoLibre by 19.1% in the first quarter, selling 18,517 shares and holding 78,680 shares afterward, valued at approximately $153.5 million.
• MercadoLibre reported earnings per share (EPS) of $10.31 for the last quarter, missing estimates, although revenue rose 33.8% year-over-year to $6.79 billion.
• Several analysts have adjusted their price targets for MercadoLibre, with the consensus rating being "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $2,795.

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lowered its position in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,680 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,517 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned 0.16% of MercadoLibre worth $153,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 41.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 405,425 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 24.5% during the 4th 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. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,415,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,108,079,000 after buying an additional 179,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 170.9% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 274,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $536,411,000 after buying an additional 173,449 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MELI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 22nd. Susquehanna reiterated a "positive" rating and set a $2,975.00 price target (up from $2,840.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Finally, Wedbush set a $2,700.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MercadoLibre has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $2,795.00.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

MELI traded up $72.50 on Friday, hitting $2,392.30. 411,196 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 358,763. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,646.00 and a fifty-two week high of $2,645.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2,414.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $2,261.37. The stock has a market cap of $121.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.46.

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

MercadoLibre 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.