Vident Advisory LLC Invests $213,000 in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 2,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in PriceSmart by 227.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,710 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,287,000 after purchasing an additional 32,438 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 76.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 5,829 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,278 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in PriceSmart by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 18,299 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,687,000 after buying an additional 5,315 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.21, for a total transaction of $306,630.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,329,854.31. This trade represents a 18.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 390 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.78, for a total transaction of $40,084.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,279 shares in the company, valued at $953,695.62. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,836 shares of company stock valued at $1,005,273 over the last quarter. Insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

PriceSmart Price Performance

Shares of PSMT stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $106.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 131,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 192,991. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day moving average of $98.28 and a 200-day moving average of $92.99. PriceSmart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.51 and a twelve month high of $109.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38 and a beta of 0.75.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.06). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 12.29%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. PriceSmart's quarterly revenue was up 5.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PriceSmart from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday.

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.