Solas Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Solas Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,116,787 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 167,767 shares during the quarter. Walgreens Boots Alliance comprises approximately 6.9% of Solas Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Solas Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $10,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Financial Corp IN boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% in the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.96. The stock had a trading volume of 4,571,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,005,047. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $10.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.07, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $18.83.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. The business 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WBA. Wolfe Research upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Sunday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Four equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.59.

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.