1,480 Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Acquired by SVB Wealth LLC

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 buying an additional 386,670 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 109,336 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,753,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,606,000 after purchasing an additional 35,688 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 66.7% during the third 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. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Hershey by 3.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 964,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,027,000 after purchasing an additional 29,507 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HSY. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hershey from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup upgraded Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $159.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bernstein Bank lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.15.

Hershey Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of HSY opened at $176.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $35.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $211.92. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.76.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. On average, equities analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 50.28%.

Hershey Profile

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.