Syon Capital LLC Makes New $333,000 Investment in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 12,748 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $333,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WBA. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 218,852 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,609,000 after buying an additional 45,805 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 82.5% during the 3rd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 149,544 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,326,000 after buying an additional 67,614 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 167,155 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,718,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter valued at about $383,000. Finally, Balentine LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $219,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.57.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $15.15 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $17.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.60. The company has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a PE ratio of -2.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.62 and a 52 week high of $32.89.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at $3,235,859.22. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

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.