Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Takes $7.50 Million Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 803,863 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $7,500,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned approximately 0.09% of Walgreens Boots Alliance at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 595,828 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $5,559,000 after purchasing an additional 185,762 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $326,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2,599.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 622,703 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $5,810,000 after acquiring an additional 599,637 shares in the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 507,213 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,732,000 after purchasing an additional 23,373 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WBA. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 0.2 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.00 on Tuesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $18.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.07, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The business had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance 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.