Comerica Bank Trims Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. $WBA

Comerica Bank decreased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 149,705 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,263 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,580,827 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $162,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,425,689 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,972,514 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $74,384,000 after buying an additional 378,039 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 186.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,740,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,215,000 after buying an additional 5,036,300 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,567,154 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $84,525,000 after buying an additional 1,441,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,645,380 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $63,059,000 after buying an additional 212,997 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen initiated coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.15.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA stock opened at $11.98 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.80. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $13.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $11.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.29.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly 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. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.66% and a negative net margin of 4.07%.The firm had revenue of $38.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.72 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast 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.