Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 74.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,561 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 67,370 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 4.1 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $9.23 on Thursday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.22 and a one year high of $27.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.18 and a 200 day moving average of $12.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a PE ratio of -0.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.69.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four equities research 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, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

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.