AIA Group Ltd Sells 3,503 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

AIA Group Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 35.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,371 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,503 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $11,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MELI. Bison Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in MercadoLibre by 6.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 760 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,483,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MercadoLibre during the second quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MercadoLibre

In related news, Director Alejandro Nicolas Aguzin purchased 600 shares of MercadoLibre stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $1,655.93 per share, for a total transaction of $993,558.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,867,505.15. This represents a 12.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MELI shares. 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. Raymond James Financial set a $2,000.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank decreased their target price 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. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,050.00 to $1,750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,400.00 to $2,350.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,258.67.

MercadoLibre Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ MELI opened at $1,813.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $91.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.35. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,495.00 and a fifty-two week high of $2,548.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1,681.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,822.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.16.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $8.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.75 by ($0.52). MercadoLibre had a net margin of 6.04% and a return on equity of 29.58%. The business had revenue of $8.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.74 EPS. MercadoLibre’s revenue was up 49.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 41 earnings per share for the current 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.