Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Bought by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 67.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,248 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,367 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WBA. First Financial Corp IN increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, May 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.59.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 145,621,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 17.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.24 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $18.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a PE ratio of -1.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.28.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance 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.