Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 23.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 704 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $1,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,687,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,868,869,000 after buying an additional 470,829 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 41.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,394,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,370,848,000 after acquiring an additional 405,425 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in MercadoLibre by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 1,568,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,667,386,000 after purchasing an additional 308,973 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $383,051,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,415,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,108,079,000 after purchasing an additional 179,807 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Trading Down 2.2%

MELI opened at $2,351.14 on Friday. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,579.78 and a 1-year high of $2,645.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2,493.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2,176.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.49.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.82 by $1.92. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.21% and a return on equity of 48.46%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 37.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MELI shares. UBS Group set a $3,000.00 price target on MercadoLibre in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,640.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,700.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $2,645.94.

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.