Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Chewy, Inc. (NYSE:CHWY) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $33.87, but opened at $34.80. Chewy shares last traded at $35.31, with a volume of 1,002,167 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Chewy from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Chewy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup upgraded Chewy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $28.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Chewy in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Chewy from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.60.

Chewy Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.81.

Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.86 billion. Chewy had a net margin of 3.51% and a return on equity of 24.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Chewy, Inc. will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sumit Singh sold 71,161 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $2,490,635.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $233,695. The trade was a 91.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Argos Holdings Gp Llc sold 19,827,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.32, for a total transaction of $620,989,219.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 21,799,523 shares of company stock worth $682,554,313. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Chewy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CHWY. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Chewy by 183.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Chewy during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Chewy during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Chewy in the third quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Chewy in the third quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

About Chewy

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.