Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC Sells 26,400 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 59.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,900 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 26,400 shares during the period. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $9,685,000. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth $368,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at about $143,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WBA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Four research 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 has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA stock remained flat at $11.39 during trading on Thursday. The company had a trading volume of 4,933,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,739,101. 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 fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $16.25. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $11.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 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 the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.80% and a positive return on equity of 16.39%. The business's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, April 27th. The shares were bought 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 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

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.