Man Group plc Acquires 645,358 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Man Group plc increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 53.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,855,898 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 645,358 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned about 0.21% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $17,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $805,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,279,495 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $303,902,000 after buying an additional 2,631,332 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $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% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,155,138 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $122,737,000 after buying an additional 2,185,950 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,896,742 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $83,007,000 after acquiring an additional 1,407,973 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 0.2%

WBA stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $11.21. 1,813,798 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,890,471. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $16.74. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $11.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.39. The firm has a market cap of $9.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $38.59 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on WBA shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 17.50% of the company's stock.

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.