Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $80.35 Million Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 339,143 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $80,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,924,000. Lauer Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Lauer Wealth LLC now owns 41,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 5,991 shares in the last quarter. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. now owns 398,958 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $10,417,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 352.1% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,680 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $17.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.66. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.53 and a 52-week high of $36.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.98.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. SVB Leerink cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $20.00 price target (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.36.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 13,456 shares of company stock worth $270,423 over the last three months. 17.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company Profile

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc operates as a healthcare, pharmacy, and retail company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through three segments: U.S. Retail Pharmacy, International, and U.S. Healthcare. The U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment engages in operation of the retail drugstores, health and wellness services, specialty, and home delivery pharmacy services, which offers health and wellness, beauty, personal care and consumables, and general merchandise.