SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Makes New $483,000 Investment in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 51,783 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $483,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,893 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 23,815 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Finally, OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 4,562 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.54.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $10.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.71. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $22.05. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company 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.