Deutsche Bank AG Acquires 1,441,780 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.5%, acquiring 1,441,780 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 7,567,154 shares valued at approximately $84.5 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Wellington Management and Russell Investments, have also raised their stakes in Walgreens Boots Alliance, indicating a growing institutional interest in the company.
• Walgreens Boots Alliance reported earnings of $0.38 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and experienced a revenue increase of 7.2% year-over-year, reaching $38.99 billion.

Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 23.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,567,154 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 1,441,780 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.88% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $84,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WBA. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 204,979 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,912,000 after acquiring an additional 11,453 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 58.8% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 345,273 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 127,800 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 145.7% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 199,897 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 118,539 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 314,834 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $2,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 43,472 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 14,790 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on WBA. Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $11.94 on Monday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $11.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.10. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.60.

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