Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $3.59 Million Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 28.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 384,320 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 84,320 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $3,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $385,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569,223 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter worth about $24,226,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $62,325,000 after buying an additional 934,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $68,046,000 after buying an additional 817,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.27.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $11.42. 6,705,116 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,740,199. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $23.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.87. The company has a market cap of $9.86 billion, a PE ratio of -1.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.64.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

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.