PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 8.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,955 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,406 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.14% of PriceSmart worth $3,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in PriceSmart by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 481,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,163,000 after purchasing an additional 75,896 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PriceSmart by 2.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 65,492 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 179.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,633,000 after acquiring an additional 36,614 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,309,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,311,000 after acquiring an additional 35,390 shares in the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of PriceSmart from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th.

Insider Transactions at PriceSmart

In other PriceSmart news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 5,478 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.83, for a total value of $497,566.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,646 shares in the company, valued at $1,966,106.18. The trade was a 20.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gordon H. Hanson sold 1,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.22, for a total transaction of $96,552.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $598,503.64. This represents a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,570 shares of company stock valued at $1,497,280. 17.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PriceSmart Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:PSMT opened at $87.30 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23 and a beta of 0.86. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.74 and a fifty-two week high of $99.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $91.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.98.

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