Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Grows Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,888 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in 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 worth $40,564,000 after purchasing an additional 61,317 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 112.3% during the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 197,406 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 104,438 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 45,298 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 33,593 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 305.5% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 36,930 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 54,901 shares during the period. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 1,557,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $14,528,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $10.16 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $10.37 and its 200 day moving average is $9.71. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $22.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.