Capital Investment Counsel Inc Cuts Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc cut its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,915 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $385,258,000 after purchasing an additional 6,569,223 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth approximately $24,226,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $62,325,000 after purchasing an additional 934,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $68,046,000 after purchasing an additional 817,762 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $10.16 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $22.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.71. The firm has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a PE ratio of -0.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The firm had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on WBA. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.63.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.