Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Sells 23,646 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lowered its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 42.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,001 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,646 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Hershey were worth $5,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors grew its position in Hershey by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,460,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,110,126,000 after purchasing an additional 2,980,997 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $785,003,000 after buying an additional 247,675 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,801,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $642,139,000 after buying an additional 47,394 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,628,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $275,710,000 after buying an additional 453,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,578,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,396,000 after buying an additional 154,238 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Bernstein Bank dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Hershey from $167.00 to $155.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their target price on Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $158.84.

Hershey Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:HSY traded down $0.67 on Friday, hitting $160.65. 2,073,023 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,784,156. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $163.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,994 shares of the company's stock, valued at $470,387.34. The trade was a 24.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.