Handelsbanken Fonder AB Lowers Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 315,748 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 20,094 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $8,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,927,656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,962,030 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $378,668,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013,807 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $279,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,228 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,905,998 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $131,349,000 after acquiring an additional 212,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $80,349,000 after acquiring an additional 339,143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $17.81 on Thursday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.51 and a twelve month high of $35.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. 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. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, SVB Leerink cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett bought 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,992.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 13,456 shares of company stock worth $270,423. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.