Schroder Investment Management Group Increases Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,111,062 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 498,674 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group owned 0.59% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $47,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $385,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569,223 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,241,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,226,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $805,506,000 after buying an additional 2,279,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $122,737,000 after buying an additional 2,185,950 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Bank of America increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.17 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $21.74. The company has a market capitalization 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $10.80 and its 200 day moving average is $9.93.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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.