Deutsche Bank AG Raises Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 29.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,125,374 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 1,403,357 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.71% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $57,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Swedbank AB grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 595,828 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $5,559,000 after acquiring an additional 185,762 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $326,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2,599.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 622,703 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $5,810,000 after buying an additional 599,637 shares in the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $322,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 507,213 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $4,732,000 after acquiring an additional 23,373 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial decreased 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 report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded up $0.11 on Friday, reaching $11.29. 5,903,657 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,007,259. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $18.45. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $11.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $9.76 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The business had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

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.