Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 196,772 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,039 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $32,653,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4.9% in the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.2% in the first quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.9% in the first quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 7,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.9% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the second quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total transaction of $3,742,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,563,056. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total value of $281,280.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,290 shares of company stock valued at $4,307,220. 0.28% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

Hershey stock opened at $181.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $186.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.77. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $208.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.26.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HSY. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $193.00 price target on Hershey in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on Hershey from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $177.67.

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.