Appleton Partners Inc. MA Cuts Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Appleton Partners Inc. MA reduced its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,969 shares of the company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Hershey by 7.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,991,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,720,000 after purchasing an additional 356,249 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Hershey by 25.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,858,000 after purchasing an additional 557,056 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Hershey by 0.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,590,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,092,000 after purchasing an additional 11,946 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 40.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,237,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,227,000 after buying an additional 356,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,020,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,536,000 after buying an additional 17,311 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $3,472,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares in the company, valued at $34,852,320. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $900,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 61,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,037,420. This trade represents a 7.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,704 shares of company stock worth $12,206,910 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $195.04 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $185.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.25. The firm has a market cap of $39.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.26. Hershey Company has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The company’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. Research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 72.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $174.05.

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.