Fred Alger Management LLC Invests $425,000 in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 4,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PSMT. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PriceSmart during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in PriceSmart during the second quarter worth about $32,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in PriceSmart by 76.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in PriceSmart in the second quarter valued at about $45,000. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In other news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.03, for a total value of $75,281.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 84,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,681,566.55. This trade represents a 0.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP David R. Price sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total transaction of $253,660.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,844 shares in the company, valued at $4,505,370.56. This trade represents a 5.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,290 shares of company stock worth $1,476,009. Corporate insiders own 18.60% of the company’s stock.

PriceSmart Stock Down 0.2 %

PSMT stock opened at $89.74 on Monday. PriceSmart, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.95 and a fifty-two week high of $94.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $90.13 and a 200-day moving average of $86.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 1.22.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.07). PriceSmart had a return on equity of 12.63% and a net margin of 2.83%. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. PriceSmart’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 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.