Wealthspire Advisors LLC Buys 516 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 9.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,949 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Hershey by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,127,000 after purchasing an additional 386,670 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Hershey by 31.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 586,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,491,000 after buying an additional 139,831 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 2.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,387,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $841,476,000 after buying an additional 109,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 95.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 218,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,558,000 after buying an additional 106,450 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $41,144.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler lowered Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $151.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.15.

Hershey Trading Up 0.4 %

Hershey stock opened at $178.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $160.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.58. The company has a market capitalization of $36.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $211.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 50.28%.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.