Independent Advisor Alliance Boosts Stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 776 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $1,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MELI. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in MercadoLibre by 352.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 94,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,137,000 after acquiring an additional 73,336 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 19.9% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 427 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 205.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,923,000 after purchasing an additional 17,677 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 976.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the 3rd quarter valued at $330,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MELI. New Street Research upgraded MercadoLibre from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $2,000.00 to $2,300.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,150.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,400.00 to $2,750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $2,402.81.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MELI opened at $2,021.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $102.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.62, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,324.99 and a 12 month high of $2,374.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1,966.98 and its 200 day moving average is $1,969.77.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $2.40. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 51.89% and a net margin of 9.20%. The firm had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.94 billion. Research analysts predict that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current 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.