Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Chewy, Inc. (NYSE:CHWY) saw strong trading volume on Friday after Guggenheim raised their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $32.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. 9,236,869 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 9% from the previous session’s volume of 10,199,326 shares.The stock last traded at $25.94 and had previously closed at $29.05.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Chewy from $35.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Chewy in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Chewy from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on Chewy from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Chewy from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.50.

Insider Activity at Chewy

In related news, CAO Stacy Bowman sold 8,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.53, for a total value of $124,628.25. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 243,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,732.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Argos Holdings Gp Llc sold 17,550,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.49, for a total transaction of $499,999,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Stacy Bowman sold 8,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.53, for a total transaction of $124,628.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 243,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,732.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,618,862 shares of company stock worth $501,046,742 in the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Chewy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chewy during the first quarter valued at about $334,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Chewy in the 1st quarter valued at about $416,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Chewy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $388,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Chewy by 2.2% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 108,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,725,000 after acquiring an additional 2,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Chewy by 3.2% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Chewy Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.99. The stock has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 1.00.

Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.11. Chewy had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 16.62%. The business had revenue of $2.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Chewy, Inc. will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Chewy Company Profile

Chewy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the pure play e-commerce business in the United States. It provides pet food and treats, pet supplies and pet medications, and other pet-health products, as well as pet services for dogs, cats, fish, birds, small pets, horses, and reptiles through its retail websites and mobile applications.