Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Chewy, Inc. (NYSE:CHWY - Get Free Report)'s stock price 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 changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Chewy from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Chewy in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas lowered Chewy from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Chewy from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Chewy from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Chewy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.60.

Chewy Stock Up 6.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $14.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.52, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.12. The company's 50-day moving average is $32.16 and its 200-day moving average is $28.84.

Chewy (NYSE:CHWY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $0.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Chewy, Inc. will post 0.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Chewy

In other Chewy news, major shareholder Argos Holdings Gp Llc sold 1,250,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.40, for a total value of $36,750,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Satish Mehta sold 8,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.47, for a total value of $269,634.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 585,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,612,148.14. The trade was a 1.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,799,523 shares of company stock worth $682,554,313. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chewy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Chewy in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,380,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Chewy by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 48,704 shares of the company's stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 8,228 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in shares of Chewy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $427,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Chewy by 81.9% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 93,737 shares of the company's stock worth $2,553,000 after acquiring an additional 42,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its stake in Chewy by 322.4% during the second quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 245,000 shares of the company's stock worth $6,674,000 after purchasing an additional 187,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.09% of the company's stock.

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.