Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 845 Shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Chemed Co. (NYSE:CHE) by 59.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 575 shares of the company’s stock after selling 845 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Chemed were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Chemed in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Chemed during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Chemed by 110.6% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 99 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Chemed by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Chemed during the third quarter valued at about $126,000. 95.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Chemed from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chemed from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Chemed from $604.00 to $712.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 2,000 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $641.65, for a total transaction of $1,283,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,320,654. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Spencer S. Lee sold 2,000 shares of Chemed stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $641.65, for a total transaction of $1,283,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,320,654. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian C. Judkins sold 11,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $645.00, for a total value of $7,196,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,422 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,190. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,808 shares of company stock worth $10,184,531 in the last ninety days. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Chemed Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of CHE opened at $574.13 on Friday. Chemed Co. has a twelve month low of $492.84 and a twelve month high of $654.62. The stock has a market cap of $8.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $617.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $594.25.

Chemed (NYSE:CHE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $4.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.09 by ($0.41). Chemed had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 12.36%. The firm had revenue of $589.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.18 million. Analysts expect that Chemed Co. will post 21.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chemed Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Chemed’s payout ratio is 8.61%.

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.