Diligent Investors LLC Sells 111,163 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Diligent Investors LLC trimmed its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 75.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,357 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 111,163 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,685,000. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at about $368,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 82,502 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 25,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake 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 worth $2,634,000 after purchasing an additional 37,141 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.01 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WBA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $11.25 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $16.25. The stock has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.10, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.78.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.90 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current 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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