Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires Shares of 107,377 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 107,377 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $1,199,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $312,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $9,685,000. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 62.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 17,095 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 6,596 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 492,468 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $4,595,000 after buying an additional 32,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 96,137 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $897,000 after buying an additional 9,889 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WBA shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.52 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $13.25. The stock has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $11.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 26th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.07% and a positive return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $38.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share 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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