Teacher Retirement System of Texas Invests $1.20 Million in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

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

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $805,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,279,495 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $303,902,000 after purchasing an additional 2,631,332 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,779,254 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $194,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,587 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,896,742 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $83,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,973 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,972,514 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $74,384,000 after purchasing an additional 378,039 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA traded up $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $11.52. 8,707,713 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,202,847. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $13.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.34 and a 200-day moving average of $10.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.78.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $38.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.72 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.07% and a positive return on equity of 17.66%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the purchase, the chairman directly owned 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 17.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.