Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 646 Shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE - Free Report) by 76.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,486 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 646 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Chemed were worth $914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CHE. Whipplewood Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Chemed by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 51 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Chemed in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Chemed by 64.7% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 56 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Chemed by 77.3% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 78 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Chemed by 633.3% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 88 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 95.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Chemed

In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,000 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $615.33, for a total transaction of $615,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 101,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $62,566,139.07. This trade represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.99, for a total transaction of $866,985.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,627 shares in the company, valued at $8,454,259.73. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,500 shares of company stock worth $3,213,780. Company insiders own 3.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Chemed from $667.00 to $674.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Chemed from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 7th.

Chemed Stock Down 2.4%

NYSE CHE traded down $13.27 on Monday, hitting $549.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 142,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,520. The company's 50-day moving average is $575.83 and its 200 day moving average is $566.18. The firm has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a PE ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.54. Chemed Co. has a 1-year low of $512.12 and a 1-year high of $623.61.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported $5.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.59 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $646.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $641.78 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 12.69%. Chemed's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Chemed Co. will post 21.43 EPS for the current year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 29th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Chemed's payout ratio is 9.74%.

About Chemed

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.