Franklin Resources Inc. Has $856,000 Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 71.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 91,793 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 229,632 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $856,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Financial Corp IN increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% during the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8,670.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,208 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on WBA shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBA traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.89. 7,857,996 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,078,930. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $18.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.15. 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 - 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 positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The business had revenue of $38.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.