Kovack Advisors Inc. Increases Position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,931 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $2,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. First PREMIER Bank acquired a new position in MercadoLibre in the first quarter valued at $27,000. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in MercadoLibre in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MELI. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $1,400.00 to $2,100.00 in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $1,800.00 target price on shares of MercadoLibre in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,900.00 to $1,800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. DZ Bank raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,685.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,990.00 to $1,940.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,881.92.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

MercadoLibre stock traded down $5.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $1,591.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 207,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 267,659. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.69 billion, a PE ratio of 71.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.60. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1,063.02 and a fifty-two week high of $1,825.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $1,625.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1,607.13. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $6.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 36.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 33.81 earnings per share for the current year.

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.