Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 85,066 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 44% compared to the typical volume of 59,115 call options.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $9.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.34, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a one year low of $8.22 and a one year high of $27.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.31.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WBA. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.46.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.