Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd reduced its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 253,490 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 7,974 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $6,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,927,656,000 after buying an additional 10,962,030 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 84,503.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,325,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $311,053,000 after purchasing an additional 8,315,989 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $378,668,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,807 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 63,406,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,192,584,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $279,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,228 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett bought 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at $99,992.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 13,456 shares of company stock valued at $270,423 over the last quarter. 17.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $18.24 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.61, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.51 and a 52-week high of $36.14. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.92.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WBA. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. SVB Leerink lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

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.