The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,933 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,164 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $13,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A boosted its holdings in Hershey by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 3,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Hershey by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $921,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Waterfront Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 5,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. now owns 3,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler downgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup upgraded Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $159.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bernstein Bank dropped their target price on Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $41,144.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $396,936. The trade was a 9.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $170.79 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $163.69 and a 200-day moving average of $174.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $34.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $211.92.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Hershey Company 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.