44,300 Shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Purchased by Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 44,300 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WBA. Baron Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at about $197,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 384,320 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,586,000 after buying an additional 84,320 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 595,828 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $5,559,000 after acquiring an additional 185,762 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 96.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 18,922 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 9,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at $322,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WBA. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $10.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.27.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.25 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.86. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $23.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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.