Fifth Third Bancorp Raises Holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 75.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in MercadoLibre during the second quarter worth $29,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other MercadoLibre news, Director Alejandro Nicolas Aguzin bought 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $1,655.93 per share, with a total value of $993,558.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 5,355 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,867,505.15. The trade was a 12.62% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MELI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Daiwa Securities Group downgraded shares of MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $1,800.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial set a $2,000.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $3,500.00 to $2,800.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,258.67.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of MELI stock opened at $1,857.42 on Friday. 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,678.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1,822.75. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,495.00 and a 1-year high of $2,548.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.29 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 6.04%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 49.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $9.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 41 EPS for the current year.

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.