The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Sold by Apollon Wealth Management LLC

Apollon Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 44.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,136 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,041 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Hershey in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,337,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hershey by 66.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after buying an additional 389,404 shares in the last quarter. Woodstock Corp lifted its stake in Hershey by 34.8% during the fourth quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 6,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 61.9% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 120,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,052,000 after buying an additional 45,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in Hershey by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 8,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at $396,936. This trade represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:HSY opened at $158.34 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $163.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.11. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $211.92. The company has a market capitalization of $32.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $164.00 to $149.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $178.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.05.

About Hershey

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.