Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 34,725 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 22.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 189,936 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,725 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $36,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Hershey by 14,200.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 429 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $417,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 4,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,614,615.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $859,950. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HSY. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $179.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Citigroup cut their target price on Hershey from $204.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $205.65.

Hershey Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of HSY stock traded down $2.97 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $190.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 467,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,839,274. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $248.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.45.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

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.