Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. Cuts Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. lessened its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,935 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,087 shares during the quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 104.6% during the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 36,922 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 18,879 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 31.1% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 20,791 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $931,000 after acquiring an additional 4,931 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,569 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651 shares during the period. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 63,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 467,533 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $20,932,000 after purchasing an additional 58,184 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $17.59 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.51 and a fifty-two week high of $36.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $15.18 billion, a PE ratio of -2.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during 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%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WBA shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

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

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.