Geode Capital Management LLC Acquires 7,994 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 692,864 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,994 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.26% of PriceSmart worth $63,874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in PriceSmart by 227.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,710 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,287,000 after buying an additional 32,438 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in PriceSmart by 18.4% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 39,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,627,000 after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares during the period. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the fourth quarter worth about $5,030,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 47.0% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 18,195 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 5,818 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in PriceSmart by 8.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 580 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.40, for a total value of $53,592.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $79,279.20. The trade was a 40.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total value of $50,183.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,055 shares of company stock worth $1,833,849 in the last ninety days. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PSMT traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $93.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 170,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,939. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.51 and a 1-year high of $99.23. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $87.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.87.

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

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

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

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.