California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 82,097 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• California Public Employees Retirement System sold 82,097 Hershey shares (a 15.3% reduction), leaving it with 454,877 shares worth about $85.1 million, while institutional investors own roughly 57.96% of the company.
• Corporate insiders have been net sellers — including recent sales by SVP Jason Reiman and CFO Steven Voskuil — with 10,000 shares sold in the last three months and insiders now owning about 0.28% of Hershey stock.
• Positive operational and analyst catalysts: Hershey beat Q4 revenue and EPS estimates, set FY26 EPS guidance of $8.20–$8.52, saw several price-target upgrades, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.452 (annualized $5.81, ~2.6% yield).

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 454,877 shares of the company's stock after selling 82,097 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.22% of Hershey worth $85,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,840,577 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,126,594,000 after purchasing an additional 210,131 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,116,739 shares of the company's stock worth $849,123,000 after purchasing an additional 125,100 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,276,326 shares of the company's stock worth $543,712,000 after purchasing an additional 144,640 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Hershey by 6.7% during the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,605,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,333,000 after buying an additional 101,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Hershey by 3.7% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,473,427 shares of the company's stock valued at $275,605,000 after buying an additional 52,936 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,277,008.52. This represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.66, for a total value of $329,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 50,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,162,901.54. This trade represents a 2.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,153,645 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Hershey

Here are the key news stories impacting Hershey this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 outperformance and continuing guidance support: Analysts and sector write-ups highlighted Hershey’s strong Q4 performance within the shelf-stable foods group (revenue and EPS beats and FY26 guidance noted earlier this season), which underpins the bullish sentiment. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price-target lift: Morgan Stanley raised Hershey’s price target (reported coverage) and has a more constructive stance, increasing upside expectations — a direct catalyst for buying interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Commodity tailwind for margins: Morgan Stanley’s sector note boosting Mondelez to top pick cites cocoa deflation — the same cocoa-price trend benefits Hershey by easing input-cost pressure and improving margin outlook across the industry. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic portfolio repositioning: Hershey began operating under a unified sweet/salty/protein portfolio structure aimed at clearer go-to-market focus and growth across faster segments — investors view this as supportive for organic growth and cross-selling. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Sustainability / supply-chain collaboration: Hershey joined competitors on the TogetherCocoa initiative, a cooperative effort to address cocoa supply-chain resilience and sustainability — positive for long-term ingredient security and ESG positioning. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational streamlining in the U.S.: Company plans to streamline U.S. businesses (potentially lowering costs), but details on charges, savings and timelines are limited — a watch item for near-term restructuring costs vs. long-term savings. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Defensive dividend narrative: Coverage labeling Hershey a “dividend monster” reinforces its defensive, income-oriented appeal to investors but is unlikely to trigger large re-ratings by itself. Read More.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $219.92 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $44.58 billion, a PE ratio of 50.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.14. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $150.04 and a 12 month high of $239.48. The company's 50-day moving average price is $211.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.70.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.31. Hershey had a net margin of 7.55% and a return on equity of 27.90%. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.200-8.520 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a positive change from Hershey's previous quarterly dividend of $1.37. Hershey's payout ratio is 133.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HSY. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $222.68.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company NYSE: HSY is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey's business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey's product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.

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