MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) Stock Position Lifted by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 569.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,031 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 877 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $1,753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MELI. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 38.7% in the fourth 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 raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 405,425 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at $565,306,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake 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 valued at $2,667,386,000 after buying an additional 308,973 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at $383,051,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MELI. Susquehanna increased their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Benchmark lowered MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $2,572.86.

MercadoLibre Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MELI traded up $16.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $2,562.22. 405,889 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 383,003. The company has a market capitalization of $129.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.61. The business's 50-day moving average price is $2,233.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $2,038.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,550.00 and a twelve month high of $2,635.88.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $7.82 by $1.92. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.55 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 51.89%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MercadoLibre Company 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.