State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 148,958 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 35.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 274,522 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 148,958 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $3,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. Eubel Brady & Suttman Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,083,539 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $13,105,000 after acquiring an additional 268,262 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 128,744 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 10,511 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.4% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 87,726 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 39,883 shares in the last quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 166,711 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $2,016,000 after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth about $140,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $9.01. The company had a trading volume of 13,891,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,109,553. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.40 and a 200 day moving average of $14.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a PE ratio of -1.34, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.46 and a one year high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio is -14.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WBA. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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 objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company 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.