Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 453,876 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,359 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.48% of PriceSmart worth $41,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PSMT. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in PriceSmart by 3,905.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 681 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 393.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 17,300.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 870 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 49.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total value of $50,183.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,143,903.36. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.22, for a total value of $96,552.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $598,503.64. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,162 shares of company stock valued at $1,930,402. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PriceSmart Trading Up 1.1 %

PSMT traded up $0.96 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $85.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 120,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 162,311. The stock has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 18.82 and a beta of 0.84. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.51 and a fifty-two week high of $99.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business's 50-day moving average is $89.51 and its 200-day moving average is $90.30.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.22). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. PriceSmart's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart's payout ratio is 27.75%.

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.