Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 78,489 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 181,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 78,489 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 4,757 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,215 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 264,644 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,893 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.63.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.38 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $22.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.