Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 315,748 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 20,094 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $8,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 114,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 2,333 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $17.81 on Thursday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.51 and a fifty-two week high of $35.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $15.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted 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 business had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett purchased 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett bought 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased 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 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 acquired a total of 13,456 shares of company stock worth $270,423 over the last three months. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WBA. SVB Leerink decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

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.