DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 688 Shares of Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reduced its stake in shares of Chemed Corporation (NYSE:CHE - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 154,579 shares of the company's stock after selling 688 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 1.06% of Chemed worth $92,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its holdings in Chemed by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 501,562 shares of the company's stock worth $265,726,000 after purchasing an additional 5,809 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Chemed by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,409 shares of the company's stock worth $180,654,000 after purchasing an additional 4,966 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Chemed by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 283,790 shares of the company's stock worth $150,352,000 after purchasing an additional 45,174 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Chemed by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 266,786 shares of the company's stock worth $141,343,000 after purchasing an additional 20,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Chemed by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 252,237 shares of the company's stock worth $133,635,000 after purchasing an additional 12,167 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on CHE shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on Chemed from $708.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $640.00 target price (down previously from $674.00) on shares of Chemed in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Chemed from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th.

Insider Activity at Chemed

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $576.45, for a total transaction of $864,675.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 101,197 shares in the company, valued at $58,335,010.65. This represents a 1.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.99, for a total value of $866,985.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 14,627 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,454,259.73. This trade 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 in the last 90 days. 3.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Chemed Stock Down 1.3%

Chemed stock traded down $5.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $459.69. 95,700 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 112,311. Chemed Corporation has a one year low of $457.44 and a one year high of $623.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $544.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $560.68. The company has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Chemed Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Chemed's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.74%.

Chemed Company 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.