M&T Bank Corp Raises Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 69.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 200,158 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 82,352 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% in the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,947,000 after acquiring an additional 190,996 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.4% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 340,431 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 64,586 shares during the last quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT now owns 1,041,440 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $9,331,000 after acquiring an additional 124,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 322,984 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 56,725 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WBA shares. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded up $0.66 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $10.39. 38,948,975 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,339,830. 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 stock has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $27.05. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $9.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.69.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio is presently -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.