Ballentine Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 18,297 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $164,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake 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 during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 60.4% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $9.35 on Wednesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.22 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.93, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.61.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WBA. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.88.

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.