Ingalls & Snyder LLC Purchases New Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Ingalls & Snyder LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 298,209 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,672,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 115,332 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,500,000 after buying an additional 13,304 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 89.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 349,464 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,580,000 after acquiring an additional 165,389 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 73.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 110,889 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,405,000 after buying an additional 47,136 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 221.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,275 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 7,769 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.5% in the second quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 124,912 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after buying an additional 10,844 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on WBA shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.86. 1,641,275 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,425,852. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $27.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

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.