Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 179.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,791 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,074 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $9,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,369 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,328,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Prospect Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 41.7% during the first quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 340 shares of the company's stock valued at $663,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,957,000 after buying an additional 891 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 3,249 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,525,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the period. Finally, Avant Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at about $316,000. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of MELI stock traded down $112.97 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $2,500.66. 464,933 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 387,940. The firm's 50-day moving average is $2,443.28 and its 200 day moving average is $2,118.19. The company has a market capitalization of $126.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.45, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.51. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,563.21 and a 1 year high of $2,645.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MELI has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group set a $3,000.00 target price on MercadoLibre in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and set a $2,975.00 price objective (up previously from $2,840.00) on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,700.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MercadoLibre presently 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.