ARK Investment Management LLC Purchases 436 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

ARK Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 1.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 25,722 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $60,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in MercadoLibre by 42.0% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in MercadoLibre in the 2nd quarter worth $261,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 123 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MELI shares. Itau BBA Securities restated an “outperform” rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Dbs Bank raised MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,750.00 to $2,400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MercadoLibre from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,785.33.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

MELI stock opened at $1,769.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2,033.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $2,148.46. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1,654.24 and a 52-week high of $2,645.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.90, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.48.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $11.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.66 by ($0.63). MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 33.73% and a net margin of 6.91%.The company had revenue of $8.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $12.61 EPS. MercadoLibre’s revenue for the quarter was up 44.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Henrique Vasoncelos Dubugras sold 845 shares of MercadoLibre stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,028.14, for a total transaction of $1,713,778.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Emiliano Calemzuk sold 45 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,027.37, for a total value of $91,231.65. Following the sale, the director directly owned 257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $521,034.09. This represents a 14.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,136 shares of company stock valued at $2,308,788 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MercadoLibre Company 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.