Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 2,286 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,782 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,286 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $42,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MELI. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the 1st quarter valued at $293,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in MercadoLibre by 4.5% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 8.4% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,326 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,053,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

MELI stock opened at $2,054.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2,050.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,807.21. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1,310.31 and a 52-week high of $2,161.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.26, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.61.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $10.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.53 by $1.95. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 43.52% and a net margin of 8.03%. The business had revenue of $5.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 37.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MELI. StockNews.com lowered MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 10th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of MercadoLibre in a research note on Friday, October 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $2,800.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,025.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded MercadoLibre from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2,400.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MercadoLibre has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,301.67.

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.