V Square Quantitative Management LLC Trims Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,234 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 6,093 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 46,161 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 17,980 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 139,236 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 32,286 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 67,016 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 133,338 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 28,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kessler Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 82,891 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $9.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $22.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.74.

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, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four research 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.19.

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.