Bank of New York Mellon Corp Raises Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,645,380 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 212,997 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.65% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $63,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,685,000. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth about $368,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 87,428 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter worth about $1,199,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 282,286 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $2,634,000 after buying an additional 37,141 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.01 on Tuesday, reaching $11.51. 2,462,157 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,250,350. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.78. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $13.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.99.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.66% and a negative net margin of 4.07%. The firm had revenue of $38.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

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 bought at an average price of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman directly owned 145,621,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WBA. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

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.