Ethic Inc. Acquires 29,686 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 55.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,966 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 29,686 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 595,828 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $5,559,000 after purchasing an additional 185,762 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $326,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 507,213 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $4,732,000 after buying an additional 23,373 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 145,621,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $11.13 on Thursday. The stock 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $11.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.32. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $18.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 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 firm had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. StockNews.com started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

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.

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