Aristeia Capital L.L.C. Invests $415,000 in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. $WBA

Aristeia Capital L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 37,120 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 186.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,740,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,215,000 after acquiring an additional 5,036,300 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,457,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,223.1% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,582,442 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $40,016,000 after acquiring an additional 3,311,682 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 101.2% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,595,507 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $42,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TIG Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2,729.3% in the 1st quarter. TIG Advisors LLC now owns 2,181,026 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $24,362,000 after buying an additional 2,103,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.15.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA stock opened at $11.98 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.64, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.60. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $13.25. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $11.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.32.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.07% and a positive return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $38.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current 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.