Signaturefd LLC Cuts Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Signaturefd LLC lowered its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,725 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 2,072 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $123,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $630,334,000 after buying an additional 10,612,373 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,826,000 after buying an additional 2,992,648 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,028,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at $16,365,000. Finally, Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at $13,710,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WBA. Barclays upped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $9.44 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.16 billion, a PE ratio of -0.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.22 and a 12 month high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.99%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company 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.