Diversified Trust Co Purchases 564 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 26th, 2023

Diversified Trust Co lifted its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,239 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 564 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Hershey were worth $750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,528,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,203,060,000 after purchasing an additional 245,084 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Hershey by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,486,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,193,800,000 after acquiring an additional 473,552 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Hershey by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,199,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,587,354,000 after acquiring an additional 18,326 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 20.0% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,671,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $789,931,000 after buying an additional 611,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 4.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,539,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,200,000 after buying an additional 63,785 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CEO Michele Buck sold 14,251 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.95, for a total transaction of $3,433,778.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 153,443 shares in the company, valued at $36,972,090.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Michele Buck sold 14,251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.95, for a total transaction of $3,433,778.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 153,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,972,090.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.23, for a total value of $26,512.07. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,450 shares in the company, valued at $595,913.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,365 shares of company stock valued at $11,921,873 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $222.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $231.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $255.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Hershey from $251.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.07.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $247.86 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $201.42 and a 12 month high of $248.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.31.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 57.76% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $1.036 per share. This represents a $4.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 52.01%.

About Hershey

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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.