Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 104,469 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $975,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings 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 valued at $5,559,000 after acquiring an additional 185,762 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at about $326,000. Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at about $322,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 507,213 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,732,000 after acquiring an additional 23,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,685,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $11.18 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.09, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $11.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.39. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $16.74.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, April 27th. The stock was bought 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.