MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 75.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,815 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $6,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new position in MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter worth $206,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 6.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 42.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the second quarter worth about $261,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 21.4% during the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 170 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark reduced their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,780.00 to $2,380.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Daiwa Securities Group lowered shares of MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $1,800.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $2,800.00 to $2,600.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,500.00 to $2,800.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,258.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MercadoLibre news, Director Alejandro Nicolas Aguzin purchased 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1,655.93 per share, for a total transaction of $993,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,355 shares in the company, valued at $8,867,505.15. The trade was a 12.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MELI opened at $1,857.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1,678.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,822.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $94.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.02, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.35. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,495.00 and a 1 year high of $2,548.50.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $8.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $8.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.29 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 6.04%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 49.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $9.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MercadoLibre Profile

MercadoLibre, Inc operates an integrated e-commerce and fintech ecosystem serving consumers and businesses across Latin America. The company provides an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers for a wide range of goods and services, supported by tools for merchants, advertising, and classifieds. Over time MercadoLibre has expanded beyond its marketplace roots into complementary areas that support digital commerce end to end.

Key offerings include its marketplace platform and a suite of logistics and payment services.