Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $5.08 Million Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 246.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 194,710 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 138,525 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $5,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% during the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 114,506 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,796,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Insight Folios Inc grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.6% in the third quarter. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC now owns 2,333 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 13,456 shares of company stock valued at $270,423 over the last 90 days. 17.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.21 on Thursday, reaching $17.60. 7,851,867 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,908,103. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.51 and a fifty-two week high of $35.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WBA. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $20.00 price target (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.36.

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.