Northern Trust Corp Acquires 26,057 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 18.2% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.33% of the company worth $329.86 million.
• MercadoLibre reported $10.31 EPS, missing the consensus estimate of $12.01, despite a revenue of $6.79 billion which surpassed expectations by 33.8% year-over-year.
• Analysts have set an average target price for MercadoLibre at $2,817.22, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 18.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 169,082 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 26,057 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.33% of MercadoLibre worth $329,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 41.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,394,255 shares of the company's stock worth $2,370,848,000 after buying an additional 405,425 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 170.9% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 274,960 shares of the company's stock worth $536,411,000 after buying an additional 173,449 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 22.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,967 shares of the company's stock worth $1,113,881,000 after buying an additional 104,554 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 87,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in MercadoLibre during the first quarter worth $143,367,000. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MELI. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,100.00 to $3,000.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 22nd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $3,500.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $2,700.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MercadoLibre currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $2,817.22.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

MELI stock traded up $93.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2,430.62. 436,058 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 369,414. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $2,411.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2,275.89. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a one year low of $1,646.00 and a one year high of $2,645.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.46.

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