ProShare Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

ProShare Advisors LLC cut its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 44.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 191,482 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 150,594 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth $326,000. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 128.5% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,228 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 13,061 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 73,349 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $684,000 after buying an additional 3,859 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 175,236 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,635,000 after buying an additional 25,582 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.18 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $11.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of -1.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $16.74.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The company had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the purchase, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This 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 through this link. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.59.

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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