Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Acquires 12,473 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Key Points

• Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. by 99.3%, holding 25,032 shares worth approximately $47.4 million, making it the 16th largest holding in its portfolio.
• MercadoLibre recently reported earnings of $10.31 per share, missing estimates of $12.01, while revenue increased 33.8% year-over-year to $6.79 billion.
• According to analysts, MercadoLibre has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price averaging around $2,817.22.

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 99.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 25,032 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,473 shares during the quarter. MercadoLibre comprises 1.8% of Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A.'s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $47,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 170.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 274,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $536,411,000 after purchasing an additional 173,449 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 22.4% during the first 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. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 23.5% in 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. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the first quarter worth $143,367,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in MercadoLibre by 18.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 450,444 shares of the company's stock worth $878,757,000 after purchasing an additional 70,834 shares during the period. 87.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MELI shares. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $2,875.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,600.00 to $2,700.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,850.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Scotiabank began coverage on MercadoLibre in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $3,500.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,640.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MercadoLibre currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $2,817.22.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 0.0%

MELI stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $2,472.91. The company had a trading volume of 292,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 390,755. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $2,413.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $2,290.26. The stock has a market cap of $125.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.07, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 52 week low of $1,646.00 and a 52 week high of $2,645.22.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $10.31 EPS 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 business 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 company earned $10.48 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.