Rakuten Securities Inc. Cuts Holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Rakuten Securities Inc. cut its holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 56.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $86,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Covestor Ltd purchased a new stake in MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MELI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of MercadoLibre in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group set a $3,000.00 price target on MercadoLibre in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,900.00 to $2,700.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,600.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,632.50.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of MELI opened at $2,389.48 on Wednesday. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,550.00 and a 1 year high of $2,635.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2,361.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2,080.23. The company has a market capitalization of $121.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.77, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.20.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $9.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.82 by $1.92. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 48.46% and a net margin of 9.21%. The company had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.78 EPS. MercadoLibre’s revenue was up 37.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current year.

About MercadoLibre

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.