Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Grows Stake in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,333 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Chemed worth $8,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHE. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chemed during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Chemed during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Chemed during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chemed by 110.6% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Chemed during the first quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Chemed from $712.00 to $697.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th.

Chemed Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CHE traded up $2.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $537.87. 112,982 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 85,033. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $548.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $585.66. Chemed Co. has a one year low of $492.84 and a one year high of $654.62. The company has a market cap of $8.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.43.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $4.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.09 by ($0.41). Chemed had a net margin of 12.36% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The business had revenue of $589.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.18 million. Equities analysts predict that Chemed Co. will post 21.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Chemed’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chemed

In other news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 4,000 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.54, for a total transaction of $2,270,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 108,549 shares in the company, valued at $61,605,899.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $567.54, for a total transaction of $2,270,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 108,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,605,899.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kevin J. Mcnamara sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $544.17, for a total transaction of $816,255.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,252,854.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,784 shares of company stock worth $3,240,053 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

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.