Chewy’s $0.26B Volume (425th Rank) Drives Volatility as Institutional Buys Clash with Insider Selling

On August 4, 2025, Chewy (CHWY) traded with a 0.22% decline despite a 83.05% surge in trading volume to $0.26 billion, ranking 425th among stocks by volume. Recent corporate activity includes Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquiring a new stake in Chewy, purchasing 100,000 shares valued at $3.25 million in Q1. This contrasts with insider selling, as major shareholder Argos Holdings sold 29.9 million shares for $1.25 billion, while CFO David Reeder offloaded 11,582 shares, reducing his holdings by 2.83%.

Chewy’s Q1 2025 earnings report showed $0.35 EPS, exceeding estimates by $0.01, with revenue rising 6.3% year-on-year to $3.12 billion. Analysts remain divided, with nine holding ratings, seventeen recommending buys, and one issuing a strong buy. Barclays raised its price target to $50, while Mizuho downgraded to neutral. Institutional ownership remains high at 93.09%, reflecting mixed confidence in the stock’s recovery trajectory.

The strategy of purchasing the top 500 high-volume stocks and holding for one day achieved a 166.71% return from 2022 to 2025, outperforming the benchmark by 137.53%. This highlights the short-term impact of liquidity concentration in volatile markets, where high-volume stocks like Chewy can experience amplified price swings driven by institutional and algorithmic trading activity.