Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 439,811 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,544 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC owned 1.43% of PriceSmart worth $40,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 536.7% in 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 bought a new position in PriceSmart in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.46% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.85, for a total transaction of $90,361.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,039 shares in the company, valued at $4,340,483.15. This trade represents a 2.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 5,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.00, for a total value of $465,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,730,823. The trade was a 21.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,376 shares of company stock worth $789,458. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PSMT traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $99.98. The stock had a trading volume of 294,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 184,777. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.51 and a 12 month high of $102.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.31. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02 and a beta of 0.87.

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

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. PriceSmart's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.92%.

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.