Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC Invests $413,000 in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 44,300 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Financial Corp IN raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8,670.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,208 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter worth $34,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WBA shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.27.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.25 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.86. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $23.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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.