Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MercadoLibre by 1,600.0% in the second quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 17 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its position in MercadoLibre by 750.0% in the third quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 17 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in MercadoLibre in the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of MercadoLibre during the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Legacy Bridge LLC raised its stake in shares of MercadoLibre by 53.3% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 23 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 8 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MercadoLibre

In related news, Director Emiliano Calemzuk sold 50 shares of MercadoLibre stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,984.98, for a total transaction of $99,249.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $472,425.24. This trade represents a 17.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MELI shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,530.00 to $2,300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,300.00 to $2,350.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. BTIG Research lowered their price target on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on MercadoLibre from $2,250.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on MercadoLibre from $2,480.00 to $2,450.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MercadoLibre has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $2,267.67.

MercadoLibre Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of MELI opened at $1,720.36 on Friday. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1,324.99 and a twelve month high of $2,161.73. The stock has a market cap of $87.22 billion, a PE ratio of 60.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.57. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $1,963.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,881.58.

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.