Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 117.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,834 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 100,888 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 15,738 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 5,447 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 5,340 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 204,023 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,904,000 after purchasing an additional 34,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 82,502 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 25,962 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 other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction 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 $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA remained flat at $11.25 during trading on Friday. 5,407,111 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,953,297. The company has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.10, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.59. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $16.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.90 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. 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 have recently issued reports on WBA shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued 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 reduced their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.59.

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.