‘Roaring Kitty’ Has 6.6% Stake in Chewy

“Roaring Kitty” is attracting attention again—this time, for his stake in Chewy (CHWY).

A Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing Monday revealed that the meme stock hero, whose real name is Keith Gill, owns 9,001,000 shares of Chewy, which was worth about $245 million based on Friday’s closing price of $27.24. The stock represents 6.6% of the voting shares in the pet products retailer, the filing said.

The shares “were not acquired and are not held for the purpose of or with the effect of changing or influencing the control of the issuer of the securities and were not acquired and are not held in connection with or as a participant in any transaction having that purpose or effect,” the filing said.

Last Thursday, Gill Posted Picture of Cartoon Dog on X

Last week, Gill shook up trading of Chewy stock, along with that of rival Petco Health and Wellness (WOOF), when he posted a picture of a cartoon dog on his X account. That sent shares of Chewy soaring as much as 34% Thursday before they turned negative. They added to their losses on Friday. 

Gill, one of the drivers of the meme stock craze of early 2021, disappeared from social media for three years before re-emerging in May. That prompted another meme stock frenzy, especially impacting shares of GameStop (GME).

Chewy shares were 4.9% lower to $25.92 in volatile trading as of 10:30 a.m. ET Monday but have gained about 9.4% this year. Petco stock was down 6.4% and GameStop 5.9% lower Monday.