Martingale Asset Management L P Lowers Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,367 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,059 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned 0.09% of PriceSmart worth $2,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 3,905.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 681 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in PriceSmart by 393.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

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PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of PriceSmart stock traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $92.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 32,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 182,410. The company has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $87.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.01. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.51 and a 12-month high of $99.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 1.26.

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

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

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

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.

Insider Buying and Selling at PriceSmart

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 transaction of $53,592.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 858 shares in the company, valued at $79,279.20. The trade was a 40.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $161,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,606,545. The trade was a 9.13 % 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 90 days. 17.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.