Forsta AP Fonden Acquires 175,400 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 83.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 385,600 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after buying an additional 175,400 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $3,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WBA. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $630,334,000 after buying an additional 10,612,373 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $72,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,028,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter valued at about $16,365,000. Finally, Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter valued at about $13,710,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WBA. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Truist Financial cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA stock traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $9.24. 13,493,570 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,303,285. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.22 and a 1-year high of $27.05. The company has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.92, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.70.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.