Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,809 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,809 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Alliance grew its stake in Hershey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1,263.3% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after buying an additional 13,997 shares during the period. Reliant Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $4,173,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 78,757.1% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 5,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 5,513 shares during the period. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its position in Hershey by 94.7% in the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 17,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on HSY. Citigroup dropped their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley cut Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.78.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY stock traded up $2.04 on Friday, reaching $197.92. The company had a trading volume of 3,396,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,711,441. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business’s 50-day moving average is $191.85 and its 200 day moving average is $190.72. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $275.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.