Jump Financial LLC Acquires 157,689 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Jump Financial LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 485.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 190,161 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 157,689 shares during the quarter. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WBA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $805,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,279,495 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $303,902,000 after buying an additional 2,631,332 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,779,254 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $194,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,587 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,155,138 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $122,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,241,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA remained flat at $10.99 during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock had a trading volume of 8,540,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,986,434. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.17. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $18.83. The company has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a PE ratio of -1.07, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67. 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 issued its quarterly 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. 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 $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" 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 cut their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Saturday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.59.

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.