Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lessened its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,195,200 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 101,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.25% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $47,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,927,656,000 after acquiring an additional 10,962,030 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,448,648 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $481,694,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163,317 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,519,845 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $170,233,000 after purchasing an additional 613,847 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $80,349,000 after purchasing an additional 339,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,249,654 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $58,738,000 after buying an additional 27,634 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 0.2 %

WBA traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $11.52. The company had a trading volume of 1,610,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,000,169. The company has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of -1.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.69 and a 1-year high of $31.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.19 and a 200-day moving average of $19.11.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $36.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.68%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WBA shares. 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 report on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.