Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Sold by Gagnon Securities LLC

Gagnon Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,354 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,007 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 24,726 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 10,696 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 436,849 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $5,284,000 after purchasing an additional 8,973 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 381,301 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,612,000 after purchasing an additional 104,235 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 132,456 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 31,772 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 364,734 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,411,000 after buying an additional 15,270 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WBA shares. Bank of America raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI raised 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.19.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 10.3 %

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $10.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.00, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.64. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $10.09 and a 200-day moving average of $9.88. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $23.76.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. 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 $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.