Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $2.23 Million in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 238,565 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,234,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth about $58,241,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $805,506,000 after buying an additional 2,279,495 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% during 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. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 70.3% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,455,720 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $41,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,685,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America increased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Friday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.6 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $10.85. 1,296,351 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,912,860. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $18.83. The company has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a PE ratio of -1.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $10.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

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