First Manhattan CO. LLC. Sells 7,996 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lessened its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 36.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,180 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,996 shares during the quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC.'s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 4,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A now owns 3,240 shares of the company's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 238 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on HSY shares. Piper Sandler cut Hershey from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Bernstein Bank dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.40.

Hershey Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:HSY traded down $1.36 on Wednesday, hitting $161.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,461,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,769,040. 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 stock has a market cap of $32.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $209.65. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $167.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.16.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.07 EPS. Hershey's quarterly revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.