Forsta AP Fonden Sells 3,000 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Forsta AP Fonden reduced its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 1.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 185,800 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $4,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Insight Folios Inc boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% during the first quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $11.50 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.71, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.11. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.69 and a 52 week high of $31.32.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.71.

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.