MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) Shares Bought by Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI – Get Rating) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,138 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $2,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in MercadoLibre by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,020,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 80.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 10,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,531,000 after purchasing an additional 4,587 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 822 shares of the company’s stock worth $680,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MercadoLibre by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. 80.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Emiliano Calemzuk sold 150 shares of MercadoLibre stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,256.00, for a total value of $188,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,440. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,250.00 to $1,475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,100.00 to $1,460.00 in a research report on Friday, March 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on MercadoLibre in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,245.00 to $1,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,305.00.

MercadoLibre Stock Performance

Shares of MELI stock opened at $1,214.74 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $1,136.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $973.80. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 52 week low of $600.68 and a 52 week high of $1,275.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $61.05 billion, a PE ratio of 127.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.59.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The company reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $1.14. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 29.09%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 40.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.92) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current year.

MercadoLibre Profile

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MercadoLibre, Inc engages in the development of an online commerce platform with a focus on e-commerce and related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Other Countries. The Other Countries segment includes Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the United States of America.