Kessler Investment Group LLC Grows Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Kessler Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 1.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 82,891 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter worth about $35,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,790,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,121,969. The company has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.22 and a 12-month high of $27.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WBA shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.21.

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.