NEOS Investment Management LLC Boosts Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 31.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,986 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 9,952 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $385,258,000 after purchasing an additional 6,569,223 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth about $24,226,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $805,506,000 after buying an additional 2,279,495 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% in 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 buying an additional 2,185,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 70.3% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,455,720 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $41,082,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839,045 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $11.17 on Tuesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $21.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.09, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.80 and a 200-day moving average of $9.93.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on WBA shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.59.

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.