Bailard Inc. Invests $204,000 in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart during the 4th quarter valued at about $591,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in PriceSmart by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 51,200 shares of the company's stock worth $4,719,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in PriceSmart during the 4th quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $171,000. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PriceSmart Trading Down 1.2%

PSMT traded down $1.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $104.99. 32,516 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 243,279. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.32. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.27 and a 1 year high of $113.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.78.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.02). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 2.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In related news, Director Leon C. Janks sold 3,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.78, for a total transaction of $305,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,433,446.52. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 390 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.78, for a total transaction of $40,084.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $953,695.62. This represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,386 shares of company stock worth $1,063,743 over the last three months. Insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

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.