Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Acquires 2,211 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 118,689 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,211 shares during the period. MercadoLibre comprises about 2.2% of Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $201,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MELI. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 352.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 94,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,137,000 after acquiring an additional 73,336 shares during the period. Curi RMB Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of MercadoLibre in the third quarter worth $330,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 19.7% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,174,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 5.3% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,430,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 3.6% in the third quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 143 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 5 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of MercadoLibre stock opened at $2,021.37 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $1,966.98 and a 200 day moving average of $1,969.13. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1,324.99 and a 12 month high of $2,374.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.21 by $2.40. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 51.89% and a net margin of 9.20%. The business had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.94 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. New Street Research raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $2,000.00 to $2,300.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,480.00 to $2,450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,400.00 to $2,750.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $2,402.81.

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.