Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Acquired by Gotham Asset Management LLC

Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 472,756 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 52,754 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned 0.05% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $4,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WBA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $805,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,279,495 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,631,332 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.2% during 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 buying an additional 1,020,587 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,155,138 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $122,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,950 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,896,742 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $83,007,000 after buying an additional 1,407,973 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of WBA traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.29. 5,903,657 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,116,798. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $18.17. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $11.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.36. The firm has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.10, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. 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 (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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 equities analysts have weighed in on WBA shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

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.