Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its position in shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE – Get Rating) by 29.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 38,928 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,136 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Chemed were worth $19,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Chemed by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 7,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,921,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Chemed by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 779 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Chemed by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 718 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. FDx Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chemed by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 2,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Chemed by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.12% of the company’s stock.

Chemed Stock Performance

NYSE CHE opened at $538.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.93. Chemed Co. has a fifty-two week low of $430.16 and a fifty-two week high of $570.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $542.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $519.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.54.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The company reported $5.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.30 by $0.09. Chemed had a return on equity of 37.83% and a net margin of 11.07%. The firm had revenue of $546.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $546.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.25 EPS. Chemed’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Chemed Co. will post 20.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 25th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 24th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.57%.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.32, for a total value of $1,014,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,696,707.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.32, for a total value of $1,014,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,696,707.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 3,000 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.27, for a total value of $1,578,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 118,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,422,463.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,000 shares of company stock worth $6,883,810 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CHE shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Chemed from $587.00 to $610.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on Chemed in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Chemed from $580.00 to $610.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th.

Chemed Profile

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Chemed Corp. engages in the provision of healthcare and maintenance services. It operates through the VITAS and Roto-Rooter segments. The VITAS segment offers hospice and palliative care services to patients through a network of physicians, registered nurses, home health aides, social workers, clergy, and volunteers.