Choate Investment Advisors Cuts Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Choate Investment Advisors trimmed its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,038 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,564 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $94,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 12,591 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 1,188 shares in the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 256.3% in the 4th quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 244,273 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,279,000 after purchasing an additional 175,707 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 93.1% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 463,001 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,320,000 after purchasing an additional 223,185 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 49,896 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 7,661 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,830 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.54.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA stock opened at $11.26 on Tuesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $22.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS 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.