Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 33.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 248,672 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,838 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $2,778,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WBA. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 51,209 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 4,876 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 305.5% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 36,930 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,901 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,432,383 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $50,684,000 after purchasing an additional 478,061 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 13,570 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 3,221 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Chairman Stefano Pessina purchased 832,258 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Sunday, April 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $11.01 per share, with a total value of $9,163,160.58. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 145,621,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,603,288,079.79. The trade was a 0.57% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 17.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WBA shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 0.6%

WBA stock opened at $11.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $13.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.83. The firm has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.57, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.78.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.07% and a positive return on equity of 16.39%. The firm had revenue of $38.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance 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.