Janus Henderson Group PLC Buys 10,142 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. $MELI

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 614,238 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,142 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 1.21% of MercadoLibre worth $1,062,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Interchange Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 243 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC now owns 176 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Capital Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Mitchell Capital Management Co. now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,542,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,564,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 5 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MELI. Zacks Research upgraded MercadoLibre from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $2,800.00 to $2,600.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Raymond James Financial set a $2,000.00 price objective on MercadoLibre in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,600.00 to $2,450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,258.67.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

NASDAQ MELI opened at $1,863.31 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $94.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.18, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,495.00 and a twelve month high of $2,548.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,720.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1,806.54.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MercadoLibre

In related news, Director Alejandro Nicolas Aguzin acquired 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost 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. The trade was a 12.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.