Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 10,386 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lessened its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 10.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,957 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 10,386 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $98,284,000 after buying an additional 3,329,857 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $68,046,000 after acquiring an additional 817,762 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $62,325,000 after purchasing an additional 934,754 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,200,000 after purchasing an additional 80,525 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,718,659 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,882,000 after purchasing an additional 156,484 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 6.8 %

Shares of WBA opened at $10.39 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $27.05. The firm has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.04, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.62%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.58.

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.