Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 199.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 66,463 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,231 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,928 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Curat Global LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.8% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,312 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 2,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, April 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the acquisition, the chairman owned 145,621,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. This trade represents a 0.57% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of -1.58, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.60. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $13.25.

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