803,863 Shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Acquired by Alyeska Investment Group L.P.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 803,863 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $7,500,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned about 0.09% of Walgreens Boots Alliance as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 907,748 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $8,469,000 after purchasing an additional 25,047 shares during the period. Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 77.1% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Financial Advisory Services Inc. ADV now owns 18,307 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $171,000 after buying an additional 7,969 shares during the period. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP now owns 43,562 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 1,264 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 67.8% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 112,248 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 45,367 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,568.4% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,650,377 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $15,398,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551,457 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,465,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,050,405. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $18.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.90 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WBA shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The shares were 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 owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. This represents a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

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.