Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 249,496 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 75.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 249,496 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $129,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Financial Group LTD increased its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 0.5% during the third quarter. Synergy Financial Group LTD now owns 1,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 8 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the period. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 37 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 25 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 9 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MELI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DZ Bank upgraded MercadoLibre from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $1,685.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,000.00 to $1,800.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut MercadoLibre from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MercadoLibre from $1,900.00 to $1,800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on MercadoLibre from $1,990.00 to $1,940.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $1,790.36.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MELI traded up $42.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1,406.00. 443,331 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 319,014. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.28 billion, a PE ratio of 71.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.44. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a one year low of $1,063.02 and a one year high of $1,825.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1,523.37 and its 200 day moving average is $1,528.68.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.66 by ($3.41). The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. MercadoLibre had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 39.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 42.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 34.46 earnings per share for the current year.

About MercadoLibre

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.