AlphaQuest LLC Sells 11,665 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 97.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 344 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,665 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in PriceSmart were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in PriceSmart by 3,905.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 681 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 393.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 17,300.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 870 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company's stock.

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.

Remove Ads

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of PriceSmart stock traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $85.59. 173,107 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 170,061. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.51 and a fifty-two week high of $99.23. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last posted 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). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart's payout ratio is 27.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $161,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,911 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,606,545. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,008 shares in the company, valued at $7,143,903.36. The trade was a 0.70 % 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 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.