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It sold 7.84 million shares for $45 each, for a total of $352.8 million, as investors see the potential for the professional networking site to link companies with customers and job seekers. The company's shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the symbol "LNKD".

LinkedIn on Tuesday raised the expected price range of its IPO by 30 percent to $42 to $45 per share from $32 to $35.

The strong investor demand for the offering bodes well for other prominent social networking companies expected to go public in the coming months and years, including Facebook, Groupon, Twitter and Zynga.

While the companies have significantly different business models, they each tap social networks and the valuations for each are skyrocketing.

Less than a decade after it began in the living room of co-founder and ex-PayPal executive Reid Hoffman, the Mountain View, California-based company is valued at $4.25 billion.

Facebook, which is expected to go public in April 2012, was valued at $70 billion in recent sales of the company's private shares, up from $50 billion at the beginning of the year.

"There is a feeding frenzy going on," said Ben Howe, chief executive of boutique investment bank America's Growth Capital.

Groupon, which brings people together for deals, has had talks with bankers about an IPO that could value it at $15 billion to $20 billion.

Yet to proponents of the value of connecting people online, the high market valuations of these companies may make sense. LinkedIn, for example, is an excellent way for companies to reach prospective customers, one venture capitalist said.

Tapping into the social network of a customer is the most efficient way for a company to find new customers, Saad Khan, a partner at venture capital firm CMEA Capital, told the Reuters Global Technology Summit in New York.

"I think there's a lot of manifest destiny involved," he said. "I think people are looking at the future prospects."

Both LinkedIn and Facebook allow users to create profile pages displaying a picture and details about themselves. But while Facebook tends to have more informal profile pages which may include a photo album from a recent trip, for example, LinkedIn is generally seen as the place for a professional persona. The profile pages are basically an online database of electronic resumes.

While most of the biggest social networking sites mainly make their money through online advertising or Internet services, LinkedIn actually makes more money through its offline sales force that directly solicits customers, agencies and resellers.

In 2010, 56 percent of LinkedIn's net revenue came from field sales, while 44 percent came from online sales. That puts it in competition with niche job-seeking sites and traditional recruiting firms.

At the end of the first month after its May 2003 launch, LinkedIn had 4,500 members. At the end of March, that figure was 102 million members.

The company's shares were sold on Wednesday at about 17.5 times LinkedIn's 2010 sales. By contrast, Google Inc's shares are valued at about six times 2010 sales.

LinkedIn co-founder Hoffman made about $5.2 million selling less than 1 percent of his shares in the IPO. Chief Executive Jeff Weiner made the same amount selling the same number of shares, which accounted for about 5 percent of his stockholdings.

Hoffman's remaining, post-IPO stake in the company -- 21.7 percent of the voting power -- is worth about $853 million at the IPO price. Weiner is keeping about 2.5 percent of the voting power, a stake valued at $99 million.

Other selling shareholders included Goldman Sachs & Co, which made just over $39 million on the IPO; Bain Capital Venture Integral Investors, which made $29.4 million; and The McGraw Hill Companies Inc, which made $19.6 million.

LinkedIn said it would hold its share of the proceeds -- about $217 million before paying the expenses associated with an IPO -- for its general needs and for any future acquisitions or investments, though none have been identified.

LinkedIn, which made money for common stockholders in 2010, said in its prospectus it does not expect to be profitable this year.

"Our philosophy is to continue to invest for future growth, and as a result we do not expect to be profitable on a GAAP basis in 2011," the company said in reference to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

Underwriters on the IPO were lead by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan.

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh and Clare Baldwin; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe, Andre Grenon, Steve Orlofsky and Richard Chang)

LinkedIn is the first U.S. social networking company to become public, with a handful of others expected to follow suit, including Facebook, Groupon, Twitter and Zynga.

While the companies have significantly different business models, they each tap social networks and the valuations for each are skyrocketing.

"Social networking is the most efficient customer acquisition strategy in the world," said Saad Khan, a partner at venture capital firm CMEA Capital.

"(It) is going to be a customer acquisition strategy in every industry," he said, explaining that social networks can help companies reach new customers more efficiently.

LinkedIn, which allows people to create professional profiles and is widely used as a job-hunting tool, raised the expected price range of its IPO by 30 percent on Tuesday, to $42 to $45 per share. At the $45 IPO price the company has a market value of $4.25 billion. Its shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday under the symbol "LNKD."

Facebook, a social networking side geared more toward recreational use, has experienced even bigger increases in its valuation.

When Goldman Sachs arranged a private share sale in January, the company's implied valuation was $50 billion. Now, just months later, it is valued at roughly $70 billion, based on recent private share sales in the secondary markets.

The company is widely expected to go public in April 2012.

"There is a feeding frenzy is going on," said Ben Howe, Chief Executive Officer of boutique investment bank America's Growth Capital.

"There are companies that are going to have very strong positions in massive markets such as Facebook ... but I think most of the other companies that are riding on their coattails and getting these enormous valuations do not fit the same profile and are just extremely overvalued," Howe said.

Groupon, which brings people together for deals, has had talks with bankers about an IPO that could value it at $15 billion to $20 billion.

Yet, even with all of the hype, there has not really been a test of how hungry public investors are for these stocks. LinkedIn will be that test.

THE RISKS

One of LinkedIn's biggest risks may be its gutsy bet on its future growth -- combined with an admission that it does not expect to be profitable in 2011 on a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis.

"Frankly, they're a little bit arrogant saying, 'We're going to have a great IPO, but we're also going to lose money this year,'" said Francis Gaskins, IPOdesktop.com president.

After two years of losses, LinkedIn finally made money for its common stockholders in 2010 -- but then it was back to only breaking even in the first quarter of 2011.

In the risk factors section of its prospectus, LinkedIn said the rest of the year could be the same, or worse:

"Our philosophy is to continue to invest for future growth, and as a result we do not expect to be profitable on a GAAP basis in 2011," the company said.

LinkedIn added that it expects its revenue growth rate to decline over time and its costs to increase.

The risk factors section of any prospectus is designed to encapsulate worst-case scenarios.

But many investors would not likely be pleased with a profitable company flatlining or swinging to a loss in its first year as a publicly traded stock.

Earlier this week, the chief executive of LinkedIn's French rival Viadeo told Reuters his venture would delay its IPO, in part because of concerns of having to answer to shareholders about profitability.

INTERNET STOCK?

Another peculiar fact about LinkedIn is that it's not quite the Internet company most consider it to be.

Most of the biggest social networking sites mainly make their money through online advertising or Internet services.

LinkedIn is an online platform but actually makes more money through so-called "field sales," or a sales force

directly soliciting customers, agencies and resellers.

In 2010, 56 percent of LinkedIn's net revenue came from field sales. By way of comparison, only 44 percent of LinkedIn's net revenue came from online sales.

"(Feet on the street) is an expensive sales force," IPOdesktop.com's Gaskins said. He added that almost half of LinkedIn's business comes from selling "hiring solutions," which help match companies and job-seekers, a space where LinkedIn could face tough competition from niche job-seeking sites and traditional recruiting firms.

(Reporting by Alina Selyukh and Clare Baldwin; editing by Dhara Ranasinghe and Andre Grenon)

West will take the top job at Del Monte Foods Inc, the maker of Meow Mix cat food and Del Monte canned vegetables that was taken private by a group led by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co earlier this year, Del Monte confirmed on Wednesday.

West, 48, was hastily named CEO at Hershey in October 2007 after Richard Lenny unexpectedly said he was leaving, reportedly because had disagreements with the Hershey Trust, the charitable trust that owns a controlling stake in the company.

West also could have wanted to get away from the control that the trust has over Hershey, said Morningstar analyst Erin Lash.

"He probably will have more freedom or flexibility to steer the strategic direction of the firm (Del Monte), more so than he did at Hershey," she said.

West's appointment is affective August 15, Del Monte said in a statement.

West has been credited with cutting costs and spurring new product development that has improved profits at Hershey.

Hershey shares were down more than 3 percent at $55.16 on Wednesday. They are up more than 17 percent since January, 2010 when the company failed to counter Kraft Foods Inc's successful effort to buy rival Cadbury Plc.

Published reports at the time painted a rift between West and the Hershey Trust over whether to bid for Cadbury, which would have left Hershey with a lot of debt.

West could not be reached for comment.

John Bilbrey, Hershey's chief operating officer, has been named interim president and chief executive, the company said. Bilbrey has been with Hershey since 2003.

Hershey Chairman James Nevels said the board will work quickly to name a permanent CEO.

(Reporting by Brad Dorfman, editing by Dave Zimmerman and Robert MacMillan)

Shoppers visited the discount chain for food and other basics, but spent cautiously. Sales of discretionary goods like apparel have been under pressure as shoppers digest higher costs for food, gasoline and other essentials.

Shares of Target retreated from premarket gains and were down 3 cents to $50.75 with about an hour to go before the market opens.

Target has been adding fresh groceries to more of its stores and signing up more shoppers for its credit cards. But groceries carry lower margins than other parts of the store and the credit cards' 5 percent discount further reduces margins.

Still, those initiatives have led to more visits and sales, even as shoppers "remain cautious in their spending," said Chief Executive Officer Gregg Steinhafel.

Target earned $689 million, or 99 cents per share, in the first quarter ended on April 30, up from $671 million, or 90 cents per share, a year earlier. Analysts, on average, expected it to earn 94 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales rose 2.8 percent to $15.58 billion, with sales at stores open at least a year up 2 percent, the company said earlier this month. Total revenue, including credit card revenue, rose 2.2 percent to $15.94 billion.

More shoppers are using the company's credit and debit cards, with 7.6 percent of sales in stores paid for with the cards in the quarter, up from 4.9 percent a year earlier.

Profit in the credit card business jumped nearly 75 percent to $194 million. Consumers' improving finances helped Target slash its bad debt expense to $12 million from $197 million a year earlier.

Credit card average receivables decreased 14.4 percent to $6.5 billion, and those directly funded by Target rose 6 percent to $2.5 billion. Target said in January that it wants to sell its credit card receivables.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl; Editing by Derek Caney, Dave Zimmerman)