Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Purchased by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 149.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,691 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,812 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signature Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in Hershey by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 24,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 499,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,851,000 after purchasing an additional 86,692 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 42,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,041,000 after purchasing an additional 3,657 shares during the period. Hixon Zuercher LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 4,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 77.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 49,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,265,000 after purchasing an additional 21,678 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:HSY opened at $180.53 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $186.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.89. The company has a market capitalization of $36.60 billion, a PE ratio of 23.97, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $140.13 and a 52-week high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HSY. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Hershey from $187.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. BNP Paribas Exane raised Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $193.00 target price on Hershey in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $177.67.

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.