Barclays PLC Boosts Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 227.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,710 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 32,438 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $4,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in PriceSmart in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in PriceSmart during the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in PriceSmart in the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In related news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.62, for a total transaction of $358,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,569,076.42. This trade represents a 6.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Paul Kovaleski sold 3,235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.96, for a total value of $291,020.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,309 shares in the company, valued at $3,986,037.64. This trade represents a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,290 shares of company stock valued at $1,476,009 over the last 90 days. 18.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PriceSmart Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of PriceSmart stock opened at $94.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. PriceSmart, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.14 and a twelve month high of $99.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $90.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.52.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.07). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.63% and a net margin of 2.83%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 30th.

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.