Oak Thistle LLC Grows Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Oak Thistle LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 399.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,625 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 47,686 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth about $58,241,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 186.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,740,100 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $72,215,000 after buying an additional 5,036,300 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter valued at $38,457,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $303,902,000 after acquiring an additional 2,631,332 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 101.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,595,507 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $42,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,806 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 145,621,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 0.2%

WBA stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $11.61. 4,789,232 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,068,763. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $13.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $11.39 and a 200-day moving average of $11.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.78.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $38.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.72 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.66% and a negative net margin of 4.07%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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