Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Purchases 4,926 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 87,428 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $805,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,279,495 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $303,902,000 after purchasing an additional 2,631,332 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,779,254 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $194,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,587 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $122,737,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,896,742 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $83,007,000 after purchasing an additional 1,407,973 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $11.48 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $11.26 and a 200-day moving average of $10.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a PE ratio of -1.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.78. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $13.25.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $38.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.72 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.07% and a positive return on equity of 17.66%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WBA. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Stefano Pessina bought 832,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.01 per share, for a total transaction of $9,163,160.58. Following the purchase, the chairman owned 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

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.