MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 9,863 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,671,000. Hershey comprises about 1.1% of MOKAN Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,337,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares during the last quarter. Woodstock Corp raised its position in shares of Hershey by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 6,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,939,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 120,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,052,000 after purchasing an additional 45,936 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bernstein Bank reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.15.

Hershey Stock Down 1.8 %

Hershey stock opened at $157.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $162.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share 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%. Analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.