Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 34,927 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $385,258,000 after buying an additional 6,569,223 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter valued at about $24,226,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $62,325,000 after purchasing an additional 934,754 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $68,046,000 after buying an additional 817,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WBA. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America boosted their target price 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.27.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.87 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $23.76. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.16, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $9.79 and a 200 day moving average of $9.87.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict 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.