Alberta Investment Management Corp Acquires 300,000 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,557,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned about 0.18% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $14,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 51,209 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 4,876 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 27,524 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 3,085 shares in the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $99,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 131.2% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 321,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,003,000 after purchasing an additional 182,644 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WBA shares. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.19.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 14.0 %

Shares of WBA stock opened at $11.06 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $10.34 and its 200-day moving average is $9.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $22.47.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal 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.