Viking Fund Management LLC Purchases 2,300 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Viking Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 328.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Viking Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $65,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 29,409 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.6% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 23,417 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 4,166 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,494,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 268.4% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 184,722 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,108,000 after buying an additional 134,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,579 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on WBA. SVB Leerink decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

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

WBA traded down $3.47 on Thursday, hitting $12.19. 131,629,875 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,064,245. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.69, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.68 and a 12 month high of $31.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.33.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.20%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

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.