Voloridge Investment Management LLC Acquires New Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,664,918 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $15,534,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned 0.19% of Walgreens Boots Alliance at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at about $150,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.9% during the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,076,066 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $10,040,000 after buying an additional 467,699 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. now owns 70,523 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 3,060 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $402,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA traded down $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.19. The company had a trading volume of 8,655,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,865,673. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.45. The stock has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings 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 one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $16.34.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WBA. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, April 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 145,621,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.