Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Cuts Stake in The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. $CHEF

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lessened its stake in shares of The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) by 43.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,068 shares of the company’s stock after selling 174,027 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse were worth $13,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Chefs’ Warehouse by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,930,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,656,000 after buying an additional 318,942 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 2,871.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 251,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,668,000 after acquiring an additional 242,917 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,864,000 after acquiring an additional 173,155 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse by 230.8% in the third quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,958,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Chefs’ Warehouse during the third quarter worth approximately $7,142,000. 91.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Chefs’ Warehouse

In other news, CEO Christopher Pappas sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.00, for a total value of $9,750,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,189,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $170,777,334. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christina Polychroni sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.21, for a total transaction of $356,445.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 24,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,951,892.82. This trade represents a 15.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 11.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHEF has been the subject of several recent research reports. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Chefs’ Warehouse from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Chefs’ Warehouse in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Chefs’ Warehouse from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.83.

Chefs’ Warehouse Stock Performance

NASDAQ CHEF opened at $95.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.12 and a beta of 1.39. The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $53.20 and a fifty-two week high of $97.63.

Chefs’ Warehouse (NASDAQ:CHEF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.17. Chefs’ Warehouse had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 1.87%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Chefs’ Warehouse Company Profile

Chefs’ Warehouse, Inc is a specialty food distributor that supplies a broad range of high‐end ingredients and culinary products to professional chefs, restaurants, hotels, and other foodservice operators. Headquartered in Maspeth, New York, the company sources its portfolio from local artisans, boutique producers and leading global suppliers. Its core offerings include fresh and frozen proteins, specialty cuts of meat and seafood, handcrafted cheeses and charcuterie, seasonal produce, value‐added preparations, pantry staples and premium desserts and beverages.

The company operates a network of distribution centers strategically located in major metropolitan markets across North America.