Vontobel Holding Ltd. Buys 585,977 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 182.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 907,857 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 585,977 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $10,141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,241,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 186.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,740,100 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $72,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,036,300 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,457,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 101.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,595,507 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $42,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WBA shares. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The stock was bought 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 $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 17.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $11.49 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.86. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $13.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $9.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.66% and a negative net margin of 4.07%. The business had revenue of $38.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WBA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.