South Dakota Investment Council Boosts Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

South Dakota Investment Council increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 22.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 506,107 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,637 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $13,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at $122,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 246.6% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 194,710 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $5,084,000 after purchasing an additional 138,525 shares during the period. Capital Management Corp VA boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 416,223 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $10,868,000 after buying an additional 194,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 16,843 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA traded down $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,275,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,032,324. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.26 and a 200-day moving average of $21.86. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.51 and a 12 month high of $35.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 13,456 shares of company stock worth $270,423. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $20.00 target price (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. SVB Leerink cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance 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.