IPG Investment Advisors LLC Sells 436,146 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

IPG Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,192,589 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 436,146 shares during the period. Walgreens Boots Alliance accounts for approximately 2.5% of IPG Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. IPG Investment Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $11,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $385,258,000 after purchasing an additional 6,569,223 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $58,241,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter valued at $24,226,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $805,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,279,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,155,138 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $122,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,950 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $11.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.08 and a twelve month high of $21.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.83 and a 200-day moving average of $9.91.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The firm had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal 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.