Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Position Increased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 43.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 3,329,857 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.27% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $98,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WBA. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% in the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $72,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,028,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter valued at approximately $16,365,000. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,252,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,642,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WBA shares. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ WBA traded up $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.06. 13,801,682 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,525,146. The business's 50-day moving average price is $9.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.37. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.69.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.04%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio is presently -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.