Cambridge Trust Co. Sells 178 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Cambridge Trust Co. cut its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,527 shares of the company’s stock after selling 178 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,665,000 after buying an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter worth approximately $238,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,057,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,045,383,000 after buying an additional 216,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 32,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,972,000 after buying an additional 3,129 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $670,244. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $185.02 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The firm has a market cap of $37.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $192.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

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.