Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,519,845 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 613,847 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $170,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,927,656,000 after buying an additional 10,962,030 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $378,668,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013,807 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $279,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,228 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,985.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 889,546 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $23,226,000 after purchasing an additional 846,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,752,170 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $38,968,000 after purchasing an additional 805,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WBA shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $17.25 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.13 and a 1 year high of $32.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.46, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.80%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.29%.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

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.