1,654 Shares in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) Purchased by Bingham Private Wealth LLC

Bingham Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Proffitt & Goodson Inc. bought a new position in Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $227,500.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 25,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,431,175. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,333 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $233,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,402 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,895,350. This represents a 3.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,107 shares of company stock worth $9,008,118 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $171.26. 2,394,123 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,811,877. Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $165.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.62. The company has a market cap of $34.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 0.30.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. Hershey had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Hershey's payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $167.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $158.84.

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.