MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 324,148 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,321 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $847,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 22.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 570,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,881,000 after buying an additional 104,554 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in MercadoLibre by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 550,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,073,823,000 after acquiring an additional 96,283 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its stake in MercadoLibre by 23.5% during the first quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 461,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $901,058,000 after purchasing an additional 87,912 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 7.0% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,235,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,228,460,000 after purchasing an additional 81,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the second quarter worth about $198,244,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MELI shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup cut their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,850.00 to $2,700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $2,750.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wedbush upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,700.00 to $2,800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets began coverage on MercadoLibre in a research report on Friday, August 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $3,000.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MercadoLibre has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,854.71.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MELI opened at $1,899.75 on Friday. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,646.00 and a 12 month 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.31 billion, a PE ratio of 46.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $2,230.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $2,364.48.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $8.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.88 by ($1.56). MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 41.35% and a net margin of 7.93%.The business had revenue of $7.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.83 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.