Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Position Lifted by Gateway Investment Advisers LLC

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,582 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,558 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 282.1% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,219 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5,392.5% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,911 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Truist Financial cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.86.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $10.68. The stock had a trading volume of 9,668,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,669,872. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.62 and a 1-year high of $29.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $12.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.36%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

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.