Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Chewy (NYSE:CHWY)

Chewy, Inc. (NYSE:CHWY) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 33,249 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 39% compared to the typical volume of 23,866 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Argos Holdings Gp Llc sold 19,827,242 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.32, for a total transaction of $620,989,219.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sumit Singh sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.52, for a total transaction of $150,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,457,159.12. This represents a 0.77 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,553,371 shares of company stock worth $933,605,214 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chewy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of Chewy during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Chewy by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 979 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Chewy by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Chewy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in Chewy by 52.0% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.09% of the company’s stock.

Chewy Stock Performance

Shares of CHWY stock traded down $1.91 on Tuesday, reaching $33.99. 4,664,730 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,650,777. The company has a market capitalization of $13.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. Chewy has a 12-month low of $14.69 and a 12-month high of $40.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.44.

Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.86 billion. Chewy had a return on equity of 24.47% and a net margin of 3.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.08) EPS. Research analysts predict that Chewy will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHWY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Chewy from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho upgraded Chewy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their price target on Chewy from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Chewy from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Chewy from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chewy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.30.

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.