Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 17,559 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 49.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,928 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 17,559 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $200,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.6% in the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 23,815 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 28,389 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 43,226 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 49,896 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of 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 note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Four 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 0.7%

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.11, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $16.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.62.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 8th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina acquired 832,258 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, April 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

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.