Howard Capital Management Inc. Acquires 20 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 984 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $1,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MELI. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the third quarter worth $114,417,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in MercadoLibre by 20.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 59,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,948,000 after acquiring an additional 10,272 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 205.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,923,000 after acquiring an additional 17,677 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 157,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,897,000 after acquiring an additional 43,215 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 2,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,598,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Emiliano Calemzuk sold 50 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,984.98, for a total transaction of $99,249.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $472,425.24. This represents a 17.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MELI shares. Susquehanna boosted their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays increased their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,480.00 to $2,450.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Raymond James upgraded MercadoLibre from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $2,250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,500.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $2,364.06.

MercadoLibre Stock Up 7.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MELI opened at $2,260.00 on Monday. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,324.99 and a 1 year high of $2,374.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1,867.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $1,958.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.62.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $6.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.94 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 51.89% and a net margin of 9.20%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal 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.