Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Acquires Shares of 13,912 Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 13,912 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,560,000. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Chemed at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Chemed by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,129 shares of the company's stock worth $2,187,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chemed by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 135 shares of the company's stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Chemed by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 136,182 shares of the company's stock worth $72,149,000 after buying an additional 13,394 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Chemed by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 964 shares of the company's stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP raised its stake in Chemed by 300.4% in the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 2,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.85% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on CHE shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Chemed from $708.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Chemed from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $640.00 price objective (down from $674.00) on shares of Chemed in a research note on Monday, June 30th.

Insider Transactions at Chemed

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $576.45, for a total transaction of $864,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 101,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,335,010.65. This trade represents a 1.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 1,500 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.99, for a total value of $866,985.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,454,259.73. This represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,598,450 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.29% of the company's stock.

Chemed Price Performance

NYSE CHE traded down $11.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $461.20. The stock had a trading volume of 199,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 111,216. Chemed Corporation has a twelve month low of $457.18 and a twelve month high of $623.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.50. The firm's 50 day moving average is $553.46 and its 200 day moving average is $562.74.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $5.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.59 by $0.04. Chemed had a return on equity of 27.58% and a net margin of 12.40%. The business had revenue of $646.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.78 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.20 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Chemed Corporation will post 21.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. Chemed's payout ratio is 9.74%.

Chemed Profile

Chemed Corporation provides hospice and palliative care services to patients through a network of physicians, registered nurses, home health aides, social workers, clergy, and volunteers primarily in the United States. The company operates in VITAS and Roto-Rooter segments. It offers plumbing, drain cleaning, excavation, water restoration, and other related services to residential and commercial customers through company-owned branches, independent contractors, and franchisees.