Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 3,295 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its ownership in MercadoLibre, Inc. by 4.3%, acquiring a total of 79,641 shares worth approximately $155.9 million as of the end of the last quarter.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for MercadoLibre, with an average price target of $2,795 per share, reflecting strong projected growth.
• Despite reporting an EPS of $10.31 for the latest quarter, MercadoLibre fell short of estimates, missing expectations by $1.70 while still achieving a 33.8% year-over-year revenue increase.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,641 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,295 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.16% of MercadoLibre worth $155,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MELI. Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 6,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,250,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,723 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,919,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 10,384 shares of the company's stock worth $20,258,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 49.5% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the company's stock worth $15,329,000 after acquiring an additional 2,603 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 80.4% in the 1st quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 18,145 shares of the company's stock worth $35,399,000 after acquiring an additional 8,085 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MELI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on MercadoLibre from $3,100.00 to $3,000.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $2,700.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $2,875.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen cut MercadoLibre from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, June 22nd. Finally, Wedbush dropped their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,800.00 to $2,700.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $2,795.00.

MercadoLibre Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ MELI traded down $23.53 on Wednesday, hitting $2,327.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 313,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,235. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1,646.00 and a 52-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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $2,421.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,252.11. The firm has a market cap of $117.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.48, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.46.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The company reported $10.31 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.48 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.