CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,735 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 5,036 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $98,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329,857 shares in the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% in the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,947,000 after buying an additional 190,996 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 595,828 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $5,559,000 after buying an additional 185,762 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.4% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 340,431 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,050,000 after buying an additional 64,586 shares during the period. Finally, Sasco Capital Inc. CT increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.6% in the third quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT now owns 1,041,440 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,331,000 after buying an additional 124,950 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $9.89 on Wednesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $23.76. The stock has a market cap of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of -0.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.64. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.83.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WBA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.19.

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.