Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 2,185,950 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,155,138 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,185,950 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.52% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $122,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WBA. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 266,702 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,488,000 after buying an additional 6,502 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at $898,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $483,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 60.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 59,672 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 22,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 123.8% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 2,874 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,590 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 stock opened at $11.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $22.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.72.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on 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, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.54.

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.