Ameriprise Financial Inc. Trims Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 31.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,000,112 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 450,717 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.12% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $9,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WBA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth about $58,241,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake 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 stake 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 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 acquiring an additional 2,185,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.23 on Wednesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $17.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WBA. StockNews.com began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, April 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

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.

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