Nicholas Michael Westfall Sells 1,713 Shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) Stock

Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) EVP Nicholas Michael Westfall sold 1,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.35, for a total transaction of $975,296.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,109 shares in the company, valued at $3,478,159.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Nicholas Michael Westfall also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 30th, Nicholas Michael Westfall sold 2,000 shares of Chemed stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.58, for a total transaction of $1,123,160.00.

Chemed Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:CHE opened at $567.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.53, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.44. Chemed Co. has a 12-month low of $492.84 and a 12-month high of $654.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $562.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $579.73.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $5.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.59 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $595.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $599.20 million. Chemed had a return on equity of 29.21% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Chemed Co. will post 21.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Chemed’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chemed

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Chemed by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 100,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,828,000 after acquiring an additional 3,269 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Chemed during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Chemed by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,277,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Chemed by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,378,000 after purchasing an additional 4,706 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Chemed in the fourth quarter valued at $1,755,000. 95.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Chemed from $712.00 to $697.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 21st.

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.