Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 12,740 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 69.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 536.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 312 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 865 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

PriceSmart Stock Down 2.0 %

PSMT traded down $2.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $99.64. 120,612 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 259,593. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $88.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.25. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.51 and a fifty-two week high of $102.47.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In related news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 1,700 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director now owns 16,911 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,606,545. This represents a 9.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO John D. Hildebrandt sold 580 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $79,279.20. This represents a 40.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,480 shares of company stock worth $699,096 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

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.