Patron Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Patron Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 24.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Planning Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 9.1% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 60 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the period. Mount Lucas Management LP grew its stake in MercadoLibre by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 143 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its position in MercadoLibre by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 6 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 27 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 3.7% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 198 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MELI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $2,200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on MercadoLibre in a research report on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,800.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $2,450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James upgraded MercadoLibre from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $2,250.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $2,244.69.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of MELI stock opened at $1,908.90 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $1,839.63 and its 200 day moving average is $1,919.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.36, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,324.99 and a 12 month high of $2,161.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Emiliano Calemzuk sold 50 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,984.98, for a total value of $99,249.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,425.24. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.