Lafayette Investments Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Lafayette Investments Inc. lowered its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,487 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 2,938 shares during the period. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 116.3% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,216 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 177,399 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,632,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 469,612 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $12,262,000 after buying an additional 129,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,610 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,896,000 after purchasing an additional 15,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased 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 directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 13,456 shares of company stock valued at $270,423 over the last ninety days. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of WBA stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $17.85. 2,123,967 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,086,121. The company has a market cap of $15.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.51 and a fifty-two week high of $36.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $20.50 and its 200-day moving average is $21.95.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. SVB Leerink reduced 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. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.