Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Trims Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lessened its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 17.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 240,434 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 50,954 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $2,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter valued at $208,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.3% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,587 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 1,454 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter valued at about $130,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 54.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 321,425 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,893,000 after buying an additional 113,242 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Sunday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.52 billion, a PE ratio of -1.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $18.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.10. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The company had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.

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