By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT – Free Report) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,423,104 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,156 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.16% of PriceSmart worth $315,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in PriceSmart by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in PriceSmart by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in PriceSmart by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 51,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,719,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total transaction of $50,183.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,143,903.36. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $161,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,606,545. This trade represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,162 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,402 over the last ninety days. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
PriceSmart Trading Down 2.6 %
PSMT opened at $86.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.51 and a fifty-two week high of $99.23. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $88.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.84.
PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.
PriceSmart Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.75%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Separately, StockNews.com raised PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th.
View Our Latest Stock Report on PriceSmart
PriceSmart Company Profile
PriceSmart, Inc owns and operates U.S.-style membership shopping warehouse clubs in the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, and Colombia. The company provides basic and private label consumer products under the Member’s Selection brand, including groceries, cleaning supplies, health and beauty aids, meat, produce, deli, seafood, and poultry.
Further Reading
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