Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Purchased by Man Group plc

Man Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,855,898 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 645,358 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned about 0.21% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $17,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,928 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $11.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.10, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.35. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $18.45.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 17.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.