Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 1,764 Shares of MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 398,378 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,764 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.79% of MercadoLibre worth $677,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MELI. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in MercadoLibre by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 5 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC lifted its holdings in MercadoLibre by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after buying an additional 6 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in MercadoLibre by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its holdings in MercadoLibre by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 46 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of MercadoLibre by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

MercadoLibre Price Performance

MELI stock opened at $1,950.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2,030.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1,972.33. MercadoLibre, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,324.99 and a 1 year high of $2,374.54. The stock has a market cap of $98.90 billion, a PE ratio of 51.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

MercadoLibre (NASDAQ:MELI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $12.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.21 by $2.40. The business had revenue of $6.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.94 billion. MercadoLibre had a return on equity of 51.89% and a net margin of 9.20%. Equities analysts forecast that MercadoLibre, Inc. will post 43.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MELI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Susquehanna raised their price target on MercadoLibre from $2,350.00 to $2,760.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. New Street Research upgraded MercadoLibre from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $2,000.00 to $2,300.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MercadoLibre from $1,950.00 to $2,300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,200.00 to $2,500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of MercadoLibre from $2,400.00 to $2,750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $2,402.81.

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.