Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 15,380 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 443,517 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,380 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Hershey worth $86,264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total transaction of $274,395.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,723.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $859,950. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $179.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.67.

Hershey Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of HSY opened at $183.75 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $251.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $194.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.16. The firm has a market cap of $37.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.36.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

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.