Ariel Investments LLC Acquires 25,047 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 907,748 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 25,047 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $8,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Financial Corp IN boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co grew 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday. They issued 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.59.

Insider Activity

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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. This represents a 0.57 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $11.00. The stock had a trading volume of 5,885,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,037,607. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm's 50 day moving average is $10.97 and its 200 day moving average is $10.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $18.83.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.