Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Acquires Shares of 36,780 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 36,780 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 90.5% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 25,219 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 11,980 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 374.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 9,012 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 7,112 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 23,815 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth about $127,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 35.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 4,585 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $10.69 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $10.50 and a 200 day moving average of $9.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $22.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a PE ratio of -1.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.54.

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.