Cetera Investment Advisers Increases Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 164,242 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,602 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,835,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 186.3% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 7,740,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $72,215,000 after purchasing an additional 5,036,300 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter worth approximately $38,457,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $303,902,000 after purchasing an additional 2,631,332 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 101.2% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 4,595,507 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $42,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter worth approximately $19,760,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on WBA shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.59.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $11.94 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a PE ratio of -1.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.08 and a twelve month high of $13.25.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $38.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.72 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.07% and a positive return on equity of 17.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share 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.