New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 7,973 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,657 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,973 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Hershey worth $27,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 121.3% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 135 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO purchased a new position in Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $225.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total value of $396,170.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at $2,833,624.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,518 shares of company stock worth $1,066,414 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY traded up $0.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $194.19. 1,182,316 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,033,107. The business's 50 day moving average price is $194.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $39.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. Hershey's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.37 dividend. This is an increase from Hershey's previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Hershey Company 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.