Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires 127,558 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 193.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 193,526 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,558 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Blue Trust Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter worth $30,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter worth $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WBA. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 2.7 %

WBA opened at $9.70 on Thursday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.08 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.97, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.31%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

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.