Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,060 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,569 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,060 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WBA. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 886,144 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,940,000 after purchasing an additional 24,974 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.9% in the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,035 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,998 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 379.4% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 10,499 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 8,309 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter worth $149,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.4% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 340,431 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 64,586 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $11.17 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.79. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.08 and a twelve month high of $22.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.09, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on WBA. Bank of America raised their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.59.

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.