Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $1.20 Million Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Wright Investors Service Inc. cut its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 36.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,086 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 26,107 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 104.6% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 36,922 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 18,879 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 31.1% during the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 20,791 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $931,000 after acquiring an additional 4,931 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 27.9% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,569 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 63,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,842,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.2% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 467,533 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $20,932,000 after acquiring an additional 58,184 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped 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 research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $17.64. 1,945,160 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,182,358. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.98. The stock has a market cap of $15.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.52, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.73. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $17.52 and a one year high of $36.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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