Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 49.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,746 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 27,762 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth about $208,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 54.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 321,425 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $2,893,000 after acquiring an additional 113,242 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 145.0% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 51,832 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 30,675 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 253.0% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 29,069 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 20,835 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Truist Financial dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 17.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of WBA traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.99. The stock had a trading volume of 8,026,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,985,758. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $10.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.26. The company has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.07, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.20 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.