California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 886,346 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 46,558 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.10% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $8,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $29,200,000 after acquiring an additional 80,525 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 17.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 28,926 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $279,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 50.2% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 17,690 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 5,909 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 48.8% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 24,392 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ WBA traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $10.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,267,104 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,990,767. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year 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 company has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.05, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $10.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.07.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WBA shares. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on 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 Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $10.59.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.