Chemed Corporation $CHE Stake Lessened by William Blair Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management cut its Chemed stake by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 40,317 shares and leaving it with 344,807 shares worth about $147.5 million.
• Chemed reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $5.65 per share versus estimates of $5.30, while revenue came in at $657.5 million and rose 1.6% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, and analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $501.50.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE - Free Report) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 344,807 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,317 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 2.44% of Chemed worth $147,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CHE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chemed by 330.4% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 99 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Chemed by 67.0% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 11,365 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,534,000 after purchasing an additional 4,560 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Chemed in the second quarter valued at $579,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chemed by 36.9% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 549 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chemed by 237.7% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 4,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.85% of the company's stock.

Chemed Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE CHE opened at $439.70 on Friday. Chemed Corporation has a 1-year low of $365.20 and a 1-year high of $581.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.54. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $400.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.05.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $5.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.30 by $0.35. Chemed had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 27.18%. The business had revenue of $657.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $659.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.63 earnings per share. Chemed's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Chemed has set its FY 2026 guidance at 24.000-24.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Chemed Corporation will post 22.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. Chemed's dividend payout ratio is presently 13.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Chemed from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Chemed from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Chemed from $422.00 to $436.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Chemed from $580.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Chemed from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Chemed presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $501.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Chemed news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $421.13, for a total transaction of $842,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,993,927.47. This represents a 2.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Chemed Profile

Chemed Corporation is a diversified provider of essential home services and healthcare solutions in the United States. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company operates through two principal business segments—Roto-Rooter and Vitas Healthcare. Since its founding in 1974, Chemed has built a reputation for reliability and expertise, serving both residential and commercial customers across a broad range of markets.

The Roto-Rooter segment offers a comprehensive suite of plumbing, drain cleaning and water restoration services.

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