Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $7.57 Million Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 811,171 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 74,973 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $7,568,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Financial Corp IN raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 2,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8,670.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,208 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 4.9 %

WBA opened at $10.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $22.05. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $10.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.04, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.65.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $37.40 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.54.

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.