Bank of America Corp DE Sells 44,356 Shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Bank of America Corp DE trimmed its holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 56.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,815 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,356 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.11% of PriceSmart worth $3,209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in PriceSmart by 227.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,287,000 after purchasing an additional 32,438 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in PriceSmart by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 13,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 5,829 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in PriceSmart by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of PriceSmart by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

PSMT stock opened at $108.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.89 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $97.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.63. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.51 and a 1-year high of $108.54.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 9th. The company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.06). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 2.76%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. PriceSmart’s revenue was up 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.21, for a total value of $306,630.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,329,854.31. This represents a 18.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.74, for a total value of $54,857.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,825,400.92. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,836 shares of company stock worth $1,005,273. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart 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.