Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C Invests $934,000 in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $934,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,424,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,671,000 after acquiring an additional 105,405 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 1.2% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,744,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,872,000 after acquiring an additional 31,263 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 2.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,309,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,311,000 after purchasing an additional 35,390 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in PriceSmart by 20.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,085,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,175,000 after purchasing an additional 184,252 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,789 shares during the period. 80.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PriceSmart news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 670 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.05, for a total transaction of $59,663.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,803.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.37, for a total value of $801,515.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,164,793.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 670 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.05, for a total transaction of $59,663.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 79,470 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,803.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,904 shares of company stock valued at $1,806,714. 18.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

PriceSmart Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PSMT stock opened at $89.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 0.85. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.82 and a 1 year high of $92.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.95.

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

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.