744,000 Shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Purchased by Scharf Investments LLC

Scharf Investments LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 744,000 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $8,310,000. Walgreens Boots Alliance makes up about 0.3% of Scharf Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Scharf Investments LLC owned about 0.09% of Walgreens Boots Alliance at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,279,495 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,631,332 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,020,587 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,155,138 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $122,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,950 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,896,742 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $83,007,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407,973 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 17.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.31 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $11.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.08 and a twelve month high of $16.25. The stock has a market cap of $9.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.78.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 16.39% and a negative net margin of 3.80%. The company's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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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