Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Trims Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. trimmed its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,930 shares of the company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Zimmermann Investment Management & Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zimmermann Investment Management & Planning LLC now owns 3,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of Hershey by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.83, for a total value of $35,224.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 12,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,986,333.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 150 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.83, for a total transaction of $35,224.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,717 shares in the company, valued at $2,986,333.11. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela M. Arway sold 211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.97, for a total value of $47,679.67. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,561 shares in the company, valued at $3,516,319.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,727 shares of company stock worth $11,522,062 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $243.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $49.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $232.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $201.42 and a 12 month high of $247.20.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 57.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were paid a $1.036 dividend. This represents a $4.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 52.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $244.00 to $269.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $255.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $245.23.

Hershey Profile

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The Hershey Co engages in the manufacture and marketing of chocolate, sweets, mints and confectionery products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: North America and International and Other. The North America is responsible for the traditional chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery market position of the company, as well as its grocery and snacks market positions, in the United States and Canada.