Sound Income Strategies LLC Trims Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Sound Income Strategies LLC reduced its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 97.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,343 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 493,870 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $805,506,000 after buying an additional 2,279,495 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $303,902,000 after buying an additional 2,631,332 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,779,254 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $194,082,000 after buying an additional 1,020,587 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,155,138 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $122,737,000 after buying an additional 2,185,950 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,896,742 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $83,007,000 after buying an additional 1,407,973 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $11.40 on Tuesday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $11.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.70. 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 company has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of -1.11, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.78. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $16.25.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WBA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company 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.

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