Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 122,788 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,178 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.82% of Chemed worth $73,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CHE. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Chemed by 300.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 116,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,249,000 after purchasing an additional 87,449 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Chemed during the 3rd quarter worth about $437,150,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of Chemed by 19.5% in the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 317,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,510,000 after buying an additional 51,974 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Chemed by 22.1% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 223,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,068,000 after acquiring an additional 40,358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Chemed by 34.5% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 154,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,516,000 after acquiring an additional 39,633 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director George J. Walsh III sold 400 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.47, for a total value of $238,988.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,819,893.62. The trade was a 11.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $598.81, for a total transaction of $1,197,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 103,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,117,555.35. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,113 shares of company stock worth $3,557,445 in the last three months. 3.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Chemed Price Performance

NYSE CHE opened at $571.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $578.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.02. Chemed Co. has a 52-week low of $523.33 and a 52-week high of $654.62.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.76 by ($0.12). Chemed had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 12.69%. The company had revenue of $606.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict 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 Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CHE. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Chemed from $697.00 to $633.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com cut Chemed from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

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.