Bridgewater Associates LP Trims Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its holdings in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 69.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PSMT. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in PriceSmart by 536.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 3,905.9% during the 4th 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 holdings in PriceSmart by 393.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 17,300.0% in 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 during the period. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In related news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.67, for a total value of $358,680.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 58,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,213,503.47. This represents a 6.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $161,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,606,545. The trade was a 9.13 % decrease in their position. 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 quarter. Insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Stock Up 1.5 %

PSMT opened at $93.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.87. PriceSmart, Inc. has a one year low of $77.51 and a one year high of $99.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

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

PriceSmart Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders 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 is presently 26.92%.

PriceSmart 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.