Lincluden Management Ltd. Grows Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Lincluden Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 264,644 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Lincluden Management Ltd.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $2,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WBA. Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.4% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 385,600 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,455,000 after acquiring an additional 175,400 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $24,660,000 after purchasing an additional 198,891 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter valued at about $795,000. Finally, Clifford Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 58.4% in the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 803,204 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,715,000 after purchasing an additional 296,135 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WBA. UBS Group lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 2.4 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $9.46 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.22 and a fifty-two week high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is presently -9.99%.

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.