The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Sold by Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.

by · The Cerbat Gem

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. trimmed its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY – Free Report) by 19.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,065 shares of the company’s stock after selling 512 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 14.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,341,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,372,965,000 after acquiring an additional 2,158,912 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Hershey by 6.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,487,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,327,000 after purchasing an additional 90,329 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Hershey by 3.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,743,000 after purchasing an additional 25,780 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 23.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 783,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,962,000 after purchasing an additional 147,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 297.9% in the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 717,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,959,000 after purchasing an additional 537,419 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,912.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on HSY. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group lowered Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $226.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Hershey from $188.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Argus downgraded Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.11.

Read Our Latest Report on Hershey

Hershey Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $177.48 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $191.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.52. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $176.78 and a 52-week high of $211.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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