Norges Bank Takes Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,242,344 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $58,241,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.72% of Walgreens Boots Alliance at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 4,757 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,893 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 23,815 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 28,389 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $265,000 after buying an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.08, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $19.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.96.

Remove Ads

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WBA. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.