Chewy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CHWY)

Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 33,037 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof42% compared to the typical daily volume of 23,313 call options.

Chewy Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of CHWY opened at $38.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.75, a PEG ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.95. Chewy has a twelve month low of $25.19 and a twelve month high of $48.62.

Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Chewy had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 35.04%. The firm had revenue of $3.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Chewy will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Chewy

In related news, major shareholder Argos Holdings Gp Llc sold 29,940,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.75, for a total transaction of $1,250,000,010.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William G. Billings sold 20,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.57, for a total transaction of $716,450.94. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 29,464 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,034.48. The trade was a 40.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,008,777 shares of company stock valued at $1,252,444,321. 0.43% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chewy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Chewy in the 1st quarter worth about $791,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Chewy in the 1st quarter worth about $3,251,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Chewy by 38.7% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 43,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 12,206 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chewy by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 288,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,670,000 after acquiring an additional 60,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Chewy by 74.5% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 139,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,548,000 after acquiring an additional 59,711 shares in the last quarter. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHWY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI set a $52.00 price target on shares of Chewy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up previously from $39.00) on shares of Chewy in a report on Thursday, June 12th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Chewy in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Chewy from $36.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Chewy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.78.

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.