Financial Sense Advisors Inc. Sells 65,966 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Financial Sense Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 32.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 138,323 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 65,966 shares during the period. Financial Sense Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $385,258,000 after purchasing an additional 6,569,223 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $98,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329,857 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $68,046,000 after acquiring an additional 817,762 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $62,325,000 after acquiring an additional 934,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $29,200,000 after purchasing an additional 80,525 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WBA. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.19.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA stock opened at $10.79 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $22.47.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal 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.