Bridgewater Associates LP Takes Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 17,841 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $160,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.3% in the second quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 3,300 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WBA. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $8.95 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.07. The firm has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.66. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.08 and a twelve month high of $27.05. 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 (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.