Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 10,272 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 20.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,430 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,272 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in MercadoLibre were worth $121,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its position in MercadoLibre by 4.8% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in MercadoLibre by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,794,000 after buying an additional 4,658 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in MercadoLibre by 143.7% during the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 580 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 168.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 45,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,622,000 after acquiring an additional 28,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd acquired a new position in MercadoLibre in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $875,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MELI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,175.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Raymond James started coverage on MercadoLibre in a research note on Friday, September 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $2,350.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded MercadoLibre from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2,400.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,530.00 to $2,300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $2,309.67.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MELI opened at $1,872.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $2,046.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,822.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.61. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1,324.99 and a 1-year high of $2,161.73.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.27 by ($3.44). The firm had revenue of $5.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.25 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 42.61% and a net margin of 7.57%. Equities research analysts anticipate that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 37.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.