Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. Decreases Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. decreased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,441 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 308.4% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,241.8% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2,314.5% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA traded down $0.21 during trading on Thursday, hitting $17.60. The company had a trading volume of 7,851,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,908,103. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.84. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.51 and a fifty-two week high of $35.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett purchased 4,456 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,992.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 13,456 shares of company stock valued at $270,423. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WBA. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. SVB Leerink cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

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.