Asset Dedication LLC Increases Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 96.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,922 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 9,294 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $177,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 4,757 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,215 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% in the third quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 264,644 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,893 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $120,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.27.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $11.25 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.86. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $23.76. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

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.