Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Buys 18,226 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 335,687 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,226 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC owned approximately 0.17% of Hershey worth $57,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Montag & Caldwell LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bernstein Bank lowered their price objective on Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $158.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michele Buck sold 31,210 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $31,134,739.20. The trade was a 13.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $470,387.34. The trade was a 24.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Down 1.0%

HSY traded down $1.62 on Wednesday, hitting $161.46. 1,114,185 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,778,460. The stock's fifty day moving average is $163.66 and its 200-day moving average is $166.06. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $32.71 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.81 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Hershey's payout ratio is currently 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.