Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $23.29 Million in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,294,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MELI. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre in the third quarter valued at approximately $114,417,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 59,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,948,000 after buying an additional 10,272 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in MercadoLibre by 37.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 157,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,897,000 after buying an additional 43,215 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,328,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 40.0% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 2,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,598,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. 87.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MELI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. New Street Research raised shares of MercadoLibre from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $2,000.00 to $2,300.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James raised MercadoLibre from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $2,250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,150.00 to $3,000.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $2,402.81.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

MercadoLibre stock opened at $1,841.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.84, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2,036.90 and a 200-day moving average of $1,967.86. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1,324.99 and a 52-week high of $2,374.54.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 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 company had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.94 billion. As a group, analysts predict that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS 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.