Banco Santander S.A. Boosts Stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 61.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 853 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $1,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in MercadoLibre by 169,952.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 181,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,405,000 after purchasing an additional 181,849 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in MercadoLibre by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 878,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,803,665,000 after purchasing an additional 137,564 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in MercadoLibre by 52.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 349,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,525,000 after purchasing an additional 120,922 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its position in MercadoLibre by 352.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 94,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $193,137,000 after purchasing an additional 73,336 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in MercadoLibre by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,873,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,845,207,000 after purchasing an additional 70,154 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MELI opened at $2,009.34 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1,942.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,969.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.30, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,324.99 and a 1-year high of $2,374.54.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $2.40. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 51.89%. The business had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.94 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MELI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. New Street Research raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $2,000.00 to $2,300.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $2,450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,150.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $2,402.81.

MercadoLibre Company Profile

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.