Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 77.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 591 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,003 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $52,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of PriceSmart by 536.7% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 312 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PriceSmart in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in PriceSmart by 119.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in PriceSmart by 24.3% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in PriceSmart in the 4th quarter worth $165,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey Fisher sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 13,011 shares in the company, valued at $1,329,854.31. This represents a 18.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.31, for a total value of $58,470.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,282,399.48. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,386 shares of company stock worth $1,063,743 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 17.10% of the company’s stock.

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, July 5th.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

PriceSmart stock opened at $109.67 on Friday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.27 and a fifty-two week high of $113.59. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14 and a beta of 0.78.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 10th. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.16 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 12.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.