Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA – Free Report) by 28.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 129,191 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,400 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $2,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 66,949,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,907,403,000 after buying an additional 3,543,790 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.3% during the second quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,628,988 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $559,230,000 after buying an additional 59,941 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 17.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,807,842 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $449,218,000 after buying an additional 2,373,357 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,974,220 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $447,357,000 after buying an additional 1,155,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 84,503.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,325,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $311,053,000 after buying an additional 8,315,989 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 4.8 %
Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $21.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.74. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.68 and a 1 year high of $37.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.47.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 4th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $36.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.95 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.64%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 290.91%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.22 per share, for a total transaction of $242,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 585,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,171,654.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.44 per share, for a total transaction of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $27.00 to $30.00 in a report on Monday, October 23rd. TheStreet raised Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. HSBC began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Friday, December 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.25.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Walgreens Boots Alliance
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.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WBA? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA – Free Report).
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