Duality Advisers LP Invests $1.52 Million in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 70,143 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,521,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,927,656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,962,030 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,448,648 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $481,694,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163,317 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,519,845 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $170,233,000 after purchasing an additional 613,847 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $80,349,000 after purchasing an additional 339,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,249,654 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $58,738,000 after purchasing an additional 27,634 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.51. The stock had a trading volume of 11,620,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,058,814. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $15.31 and a 200 day moving average of $19.32. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.69 and a 12 month high of $31.32. The firm has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.69, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.72.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The company had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.69%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is -14.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WBA shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, SVB Leerink reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.71.

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.