Wealthquest Corp Purchases Shares of 3,442,846 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,442,846 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $38,457,000. Walgreens Boots Alliance accounts for 3.7% of Wealthquest Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Wealthquest Corp owned 0.40% of Walgreens Boots Alliance at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WBA. Riverview Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WBA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wall Street Zen began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.59.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 17.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $11.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $11.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a PE ratio of -1.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.78. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $16.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.80% and a positive return on equity of 16.39%. The company had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.