Kessler Investment Group LLC Has $743,000 Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Kessler Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,891 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares during the quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $630,334,000 after purchasing an additional 10,612,373 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $72,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,992,648 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,718,659 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,882,000 after acquiring an additional 156,484 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter worth $31,028,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $24,660,000 after buying an additional 198,891 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA traded down $0.49 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.96. 7,790,103 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,121,969. The company has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a PE ratio of -1.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.22 and a 1 year high of $27.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.00.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.21.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company 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.