Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Lowers Position in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 327 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 5.3% in the second quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 161,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,076,000 after purchasing an additional 8,064 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 1.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 264,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,484,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart during the second quarter worth $731,000. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

Shares of PriceSmart stock opened at $89.58 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.74 and a beta of 0.85. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.82 and a 12 month high of $92.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. PriceSmart had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 2.60%. PriceSmart’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PriceSmart news, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.51, for a total value of $350,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,904,649.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other PriceSmart news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.65, for a total value of $69,681.75. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $703,566.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Michael Mccleary sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.51, for a total value of $350,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,904,649.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,234 shares of company stock valued at $1,747,051 over the last ninety days. 18.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th.

PriceSmart Company 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.