PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) EVP Francisco Velasco Sells 555 Shares

PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) EVP Francisco Velasco sold 555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.42, for a total transaction of $50,183.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,143,903.36. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

PriceSmart Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $90.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $74.74 and a 12 month high of $99.23. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.28.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 8th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th.

Institutional Trading of PriceSmart

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 621,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,302,000 after buying an additional 140,515 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in PriceSmart by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,818,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $258,721,000 after acquiring an additional 74,201 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in PriceSmart by 5.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,182,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,552,000 after purchasing an additional 65,492 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. bought a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,030,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 179.1% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,633,000 after purchasing an additional 36,614 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% 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.