Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Decreases Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA decreased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 482,026 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 24,140 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned approximately 0.06% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $4,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter worth approximately $109,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 572,192 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $5,127,000 after purchasing an additional 135,343 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 17.0% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 28,926 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter valued at $279,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $10.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $19.48. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.04, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.67.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial reduced 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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.59.

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.