American Investment Services Inc. Sells 14,576 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

American Investment Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 5.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 232,830 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 14,576 shares during the quarter. American Investment Services Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $2,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WBA. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note 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 on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $8.71 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of -1.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $10.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.46 and a 52-week high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

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.