Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 20,209 Shares of Chewy (NYSE:CHWY)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Chewy by 43.6%, acquiring an additional 20,209 shares to reach a total of 66,607 shares valued at $2.165 million.
• Major shareholder Argos Holdings sold nearly 30 million shares of Chewy stock for over $1.25 billion in a recent transaction, while insider sales over the past quarter totaled approximately $1.26 billion.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic, with price targets for Chewy's stock ranging from $43.00 to $52.00, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" based on 17 buy ratings and 9 hold ratings.

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Chewy (NYSE:CHWY - Free Report) by 43.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,607 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 20,209 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Chewy were worth $2,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Chewy by 4.7% during the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 7,051 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its stake in Chewy by 26.6% during the first quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 1,678 shares of the company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chewy by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chewy by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,420 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Chewy by 150.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 788 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CHWY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Chewy from $36.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Chewy in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $43.00 price target (up previously from $41.00) on shares of Chewy in a report on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of Chewy in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Chewy in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Chewy news, CEO Sumit Singh sold 4,264 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.57, for a total transaction of $151,670.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,549 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,580,567.93. This trade represents a 5.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William G. Billings sold 20,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.57, for a total value of $716,450.94. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 29,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,048,034.48. This represents a 40.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,207,583 shares of company stock valued at $1,260,500,330. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Chewy Stock Performance

Shares of Chewy stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.17. The company had a trading volume of 6,866,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,748,035. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.64, a P/E/G ratio of 7.54 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.36 and a 200 day moving average of $37.97. Chewy has a 52-week low of $23.42 and a 52-week high of $48.62.

Chewy (NYSE:CHWY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Chewy had a return on equity of 35.04% and a net margin of 3.21%. The company had revenue of $3.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Chewy will post 0.24 EPS for the current year.

Chewy 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.