Morgan Stanley Cuts Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) Price Target to $49.00

Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $50.00 to $49.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on CHWY. BNP Paribas Exane reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Chewy in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Chewy from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Chewy from $42.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Chewy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Chewy from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.91.

Chewy Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Chewy stock opened at $26.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.42 and a 200 day moving average of $31.91. Chewy has a 12 month low of $22.74 and a 12 month high of $48.62. The firm has a market cap of $11.15 billion, a PE ratio of 51.65, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.61.

Chewy (NYSE:CHWY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.19). Chewy had a net margin of 1.77% and a return on equity of 53.48%. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Chewy will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Satish Mehta sold 13,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $377,246.87. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 273,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,938,476.65. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Chewy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Chewy by 295.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,622,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $712,841,000 after acquiring an additional 13,171,325 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP increased its position in shares of Chewy by 146.9% during the fourth quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 13,536,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,386,000 after acquiring an additional 8,052,955 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Chewy by 120.2% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,196,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,948,000 after acquiring an additional 5,564,803 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Chewy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $154,647,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Chewy by 75.5% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,170,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,974,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654,496 shares during the period. 93.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Chewy

Chewy, Inc (NYSE: CHWY) is a leading e-commerce retailer specializing in pet food, supplies and services. The company offers a comprehensive assortment of products for dogs, cats, fish, birds and other small animals, including prescription medications, veterinary health products, grooming essentials and toys. Through its online platform and mobile app, Chewy provides an intuitive shopping experience with features such as Autoship, ensuring regular deliveries of pet essentials at schedule intervals.

Founded in 2011 by Ryan Cohen and Michael Day, Chewy initially operated under the name Mr.