Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 744,000 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $8,310,000. Walgreens Boots Alliance makes up 0.3% of Scharf Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Scharf Investments LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Walgreens Boots Alliance as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $805,506,000 after buying an additional 2,279,495 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $303,902,000 after buying an additional 2,631,332 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,779,254 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $194,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,587 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,185,950 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,896,742 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $83,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,973 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 0.6%
Shares of NASDAQ:WBA traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $11.38. 8,709,786 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,645,374. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.82. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $13.25. The firm has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of -1.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 16.39% and a negative net margin of 3.80%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Activity
In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.59.
View Our Latest Research Report on WBA
About Walgreens Boots Alliance
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Stories

Before you consider Walgreens Boots Alliance, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Walgreens Boots Alliance wasn't on the list.
While Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a Reduce rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Unlock your free copy of MarketBeat's comprehensive guide to pot stock investing and discover which cannabis companies are poised for growth. Plus, you'll get exclusive access to our daily newsletter with expert stock recommendations from Wall Street's top analysts.
Get This Free Report