Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Position Boosted by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 339,143 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.36% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $80,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WBA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $2,924,000. Lauer Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Lauer Wealth LLC now owns 41,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,079,000 after buying an additional 5,991 shares during the last quarter. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. now owns 398,958 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $10,417,000 after acquiring an additional 5,300 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 352.1% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,057 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,680 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 852 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett purchased 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at $99,992.64. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Valerie B. Jarrett bought 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 13,456 shares of company stock worth $270,423 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $17.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.98. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.53 and a twelve month high of $36.14.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WBA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $20.00 target price (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.36.

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.