PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Holdings Lowered by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP trimmed its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 69.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,544 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,740 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in PriceSmart were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 227.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,710 shares of the company's stock worth $4,287,000 after acquiring an additional 32,438 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. purchased a new position in PriceSmart during the fourth quarter worth about $5,030,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 18,195 shares of the company's stock worth $1,677,000 after buying an additional 5,818 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 8.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 42,955 shares of the company's stock worth $3,942,000 after acquiring an additional 3,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 684,870 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,868,000 after buying an additional 25,216 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PriceSmart Stock Up 1.4 %

PSMT stock traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $101.64. 321,491 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 184,126. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $88.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.18. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.51 and a 12-month high of $102.49.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.06). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 26.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total transaction of $465,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,730,823. This represents a 21.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 580 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.40, for a total value of $53,592.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,279.20. The trade was a 40.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,480 shares of company stock valued at $699,096 over the last 90 days. 17.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About PriceSmart

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.