Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 210.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,329 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,386 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $40,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Optimize Financial Inc increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $464,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the last quarter. Range Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 26.3% in the second quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 24 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 3.1% during the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 37.5% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 22 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 6 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MELI. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $2,800.00 price objective on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,700.00 to $2,800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $3,500.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $2,750.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets assumed coverage on MercadoLibre in a report on Friday, August 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $3,000.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,861.25.

MercadoLibre Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of MELI stock opened at $2,108.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.45, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2,290.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,377.50. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,646.00 and a 1 year high of $2,645.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $8.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.88 by ($1.56). MercadoLibre had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 41.35%. The company had revenue of $7.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.83 earnings per share. MercadoLibre’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current year.

MercadoLibre Company Profile

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.