Scotia Capital Inc. Buys 118,539 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 145.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 199,897 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 118,539 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Financial Corp IN boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% in the 4th quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8,670.3% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 3,208 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WBA. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ WBA traded up $0.09 on Friday, reaching $10.89. The company had a trading volume of 7,857,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,981,192. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $18.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67. The company's fifty day moving average is $10.82 and its 200 day moving average is $10.12.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $38.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $37.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.