South Dakota Investment Council Has $3.63 Million Stock Position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

South Dakota Investment Council increased its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 481.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,308 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 34,208 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned about 0.13% of PriceSmart worth $3,629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PSMT. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in PriceSmart by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 654 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the company's stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,383 shares of the company's stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 536.7% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 312 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 51,200 shares of the company's stock worth $4,719,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.21, for a total transaction of $306,630.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,329,854.31. This represents a 18.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Leon C. Janks sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.78, for a total value of $305,340.00. Following the sale, the director owned 33,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,433,446.52. The trade was a 8.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,386 shares of company stock worth $1,063,743. Insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of PriceSmart stock traded down $0.68 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $107.77. The stock had a trading volume of 72,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 200,799. The business has a fifty day moving average of $105.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $96.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 0.50. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.59.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 2.82%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.