Crestline Management LP Buys New Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 51,542 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $481,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $58,241,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $303,902,000 after acquiring an additional 2,631,332 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $805,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,279,495 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,155,138 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $122,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 70.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,455,720 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $41,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839,045 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WBA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.59.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. This represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 2.1%

WBA stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.13. 13,962,746 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,072,537. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.09, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $18.53.

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