PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Shares Bought by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,651 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,279 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $2,777,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. lifted its position in PriceSmart by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in PriceSmart by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 11,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $858,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in PriceSmart by 331.4% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in PriceSmart by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at about $947,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PSMT. TheStreet raised shares of PriceSmart from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of PriceSmart from $82.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of PriceSmart from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 13th.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In related news, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total value of $85,011.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $697,643.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other PriceSmart news, Director Sherry S. Bahrambeygui sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.52, for a total value of $120,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 98,508 shares in the company, valued at $7,931,864.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Edgar Zurcher sold 1,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.08, for a total transaction of $85,011.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,822 shares in the company, valued at $697,643.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,512 shares of company stock valued at $280,620 over the last 90 days. 18.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PriceSmart Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $81.97 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60 and a beta of 0.92. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.82 and a fifty-two week high of $86.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 10th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 11.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PriceSmart Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a None dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. PriceSmart’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.15%.

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.