SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,504 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 10.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 38,136 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,504 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.6% during the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 23,815 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 28,389 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares in the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 43,226 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 49,896 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WBA. Wall Street Zen began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $11.25 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $16.25. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $11.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.59. The firm has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a PE ratio of -1.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.78.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current 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.