Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Position Boosted by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,137 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,889 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,144 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,940,000 after buying an additional 24,974 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 31,632 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 1,282 shares in the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 56,647 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 8,031 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,035 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 2,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,445 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 3,950 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of WBA stock opened at $11.23 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $22.05. The firm has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a PE ratio of -1.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.83 and a 200-day moving average of $9.76. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 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 was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WBA. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI upped 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. Finally, Bank of America upped 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.54.

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.