L & S Advisors Inc Sells 116 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

L & S Advisors Inc reduced its stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 904 shares of the company’s stock after selling 116 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $1,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MELI. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of MercadoLibre in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $114,417,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in MercadoLibre by 20.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 59,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,948,000 after buying an additional 10,272 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 157,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,897,000 after buying an additional 43,215 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,328,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 2,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,598,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MELI opened at $2,048.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.83 billion, a PE ratio of 54.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $2,028.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,974.17. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,324.99 and a twelve month high of $2,374.54.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $2.40. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 51.89% and a net margin of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.94 billion. Equities research analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MELI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. 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. Raymond James upgraded MercadoLibre from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $2,250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,400.00 to $2,750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,402.81.

MercadoLibre 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.