Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 18,357 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lessened its stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 79.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,607 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,357 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership's holdings in PriceSmart were worth $425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PSMT. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew 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 worth $280,000 after acquiring 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 purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,278 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 2,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 51,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,719,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of PriceSmart stock traded up $1.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $93.64. The stock had a trading volume of 170,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,811. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.87. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.51 and a 12 month high of $99.23. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $87.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.04. 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 (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart's payout ratio is currently 26.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total value of $50,183.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,008 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,143,903.36. The trade was a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.67, for a total transaction of $358,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 58,141 shares in the company, valued at $5,213,503.47. This represents a 6.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,055 shares of company stock valued at $1,833,849 in the last quarter. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.