Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Purchased by Rhumbline Advisers

Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 17.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,518,348 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 224,554 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.18% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $16,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter valued at about $129,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,389.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 432,826 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $4,835,000 after buying an additional 403,757 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.6% in the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,500 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3,588.8% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 24,014 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 23,363 shares during the period. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter valued at about $224,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $11.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.10, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.04 and a 200-day moving average of $10.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $16.25.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company's revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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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