M&T Bank Corp Buys 11,473 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 211,631 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,473 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,155,138 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $122,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,185,950 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 266,702 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 6,502 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $898,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $483,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 60.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 59,672 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 22,455 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 7.5 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.39 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.11, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.64. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.08 and a 52 week high of $22.05.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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 target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $11.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.54.

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.