Cerity Partners LLC Has $6.02 Million Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 75.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 672,104 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 288,657 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $6,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter valued at approximately $106,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter valued at $269,000. 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 valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter worth $466,000. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $62,325,000 after purchasing an additional 934,754 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $9.06. 13,827,930 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,838,620. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.08 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $9.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.36. 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 $7.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.91, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 business's revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.04%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WBA shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays increased 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.