Entropy Technologies LP Buys Shares of 78,496 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 78,496 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 322,984 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 56,725 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,215,000. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.4% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 385,600 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,455,000 after buying an additional 175,400 shares during the period. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,252,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $24,660,000 after acquiring an additional 198,891 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. 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. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.48. 22,137,805 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,373,150. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.22 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $9.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.97. 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 company has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.87, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.69.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.79%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's payout ratio is -9.99%.

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.