Investors Buy High Volume of Walgreens Boots Alliance Call Options (NASDAQ:WBA)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors bought 85,066 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 44% compared to the typical daily volume of 59,115 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WBA. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on WBA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.46.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 1.0 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $9.12. The stock had a trading volume of 16,468,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,442,605. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.40. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a twelve month low of $8.22 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of -1.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.70.

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.