1,882 Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Acquired by Apella Capital LLC

Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in Hershey by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock worth $762,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,768 shares of the company's stock worth $473,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A grew its holdings in Hershey by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 3,240 shares of the company's stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in Hershey by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,546 shares of the company's stock worth $939,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Hershey by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 238 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total value of $153,025.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $470,387.34. This trade represents a 24.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 31,210 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.80, for a total transaction of $5,018,568.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,624 shares in the company, valued at $31,134,739.20. This trade represents a 13.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $167.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $158.84.

Hershey Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:HSY opened at $162.73 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $32.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $163.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.98. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.07 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.

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.

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