Howard Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 29.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,020 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,214 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Townsend & Associates Inc lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Townsend & Associates Inc now owns 76,080 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $710,000 after buying an additional 3,458 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,250,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 17,888 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 1,620 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 4,347,677 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $40,564,000 after buying an additional 61,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 112.3% in the 4th quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 197,406 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 104,438 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $11.38 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.41 and its 200-day moving average is $9.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $22.05. The firm has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.64. 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 (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on WBA shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.63.

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.