Inderpal S. Bhandari Acquires 3,000 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $17.65 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.23 billion, a PE ratio of -2.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.05. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.53 and a 12-month high of $36.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 104.6% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 36,922 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after buying an additional 18,879 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 31.1% in the first quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 20,791 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 4,931 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 27.9% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,569 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 1,651 shares in the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 63,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.2% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 467,533 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $20,932,000 after buying an additional 58,184 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $20.00 price target (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.36.

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.