RIA Advisory Group LLC Takes $149,000 Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,703 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $149,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,927,656,000 after acquiring an additional 10,962,030 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 63,406,129 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,192,584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797,885 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $378,668,000 after buying an additional 3,013,807 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $279,876,000 after buying an additional 1,720,228 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 84,503.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,325,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $311,053,000 after buying an additional 8,315,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 13,456 shares of company stock worth $270,423. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 3.7 %

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $18.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $20.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.93. The company has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a PE ratio of -2.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.73. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.51 and a 52 week high of $36.14.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on WBA. Barclays began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet raised Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

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.