Venture Visionary Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Key Points

• Venture Visionary Partners LLC has cut its stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. by 44.5%, now holding 1,774 shares valued at approximately $3.46 million after selling 1,424 shares in the first quarter.
• Despite this decrease, other institutional investors have increased their holdings in MercadoLibre, with Price T Rowe Associates raising its stake by 41%, and Assenagon Asset Management boosting its stake by 170.9%.
• The company reported disappointing earnings per share (EPS) of $10.31, missing analyst expectations, while achieving a revenue of $6.79 billion, which exceeded estimates by $220 million.

Venture Visionary Partners LLC lessened its holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI - Free Report) by 44.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,774 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,424 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC's holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $3,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MELI. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,394,255 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,370,848,000 after buying an additional 405,425 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,154,116 shares of the company's stock worth $2,251,531,000 after purchasing an additional 18,731 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,967 shares of the company's stock worth $1,113,881,000 after purchasing an additional 104,554 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in MercadoLibre by 23.5% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 461,875 shares of the company's stock valued at $901,058,000 after purchasing an additional 87,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 454,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $772,255,000 after purchasing an additional 57,806 shares during the period. 87.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MELI. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $2,750.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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 note on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $2,700.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,600.00 to $2,700.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $2,817.22.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:MELI traded up $93.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $2,430.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 436,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,414. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.23 billion, a PE ratio of 60.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.46. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,646.00 and a 12 month 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $2,411.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,275.89.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.57 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 43.06% and a net margin of 8.52%.MercadoLibre's revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $10.48 EPS. On average, 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.