Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Boosts Position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 501.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 481 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in MercadoLibre in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. 87.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

NASDAQ MELI traded up $15.02 on Friday, hitting $1,600.05. The stock had a trading volume of 309,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 272,305. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,591.35 and a 200-day moving average of $1,605.60. The company has a market capitalization of $81.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.60. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1,063.02 and a 52-week high of $1,825.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.27.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $6.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.64 by $0.14. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 7.17% and a return on equity of 39.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 36.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 33.81 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on MercadoLibre from $1,900.00 to $1,800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,800.00 price target on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on MercadoLibre from $1,800.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. New Street Research cut shares of MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,000.00 to $2,150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MercadoLibre has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,881.92.

MercadoLibre 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.