California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 8,202 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 245,415 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,202 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Hershey were worth $54,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $415,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 121.3% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 444.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 245 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Pamela M. Arway sold 211 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.97, for a total value of $47,679.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,516,319.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.83, for a total transaction of $35,224.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,986,333.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pamela M. Arway sold 211 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.97, for a total value of $47,679.67. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,516,319.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,727 shares of company stock worth $11,522,062 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $244.00 to $269.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Hershey from $255.00 to $277.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Hershey from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $231.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $245.23.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $245.00 on Friday. 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 Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $201.42 and a 1 year high of $245.42. The company’s 50-day moving average is $232.61 and its 200 day moving average is $230.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.31.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.25. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.036 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 16th. This represents a $4.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 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.