Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) Shares Purchased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,352 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,432 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Hershey were worth $10,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HSY shares. Mizuho reduced their price target 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. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $158.84.

Hershey Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:HSY traded down $4.40 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $167.65. The stock had a trading volume of 2,234,470 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,798,276. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $164.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $33.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 6.28 and a beta of 0.29. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

Insider Activity

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

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.