Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Acquired by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 235.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 776,787 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 545,226 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $6,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 115,332 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,500,000 after purchasing an additional 13,304 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 89.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 349,464 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $7,580,000 after buying an additional 165,389 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 73.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 110,889 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $2,405,000 after acquiring an additional 47,136 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 221.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,275 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $136,000 after acquiring an additional 7,769 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 124,912 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $1,511,000 after acquiring an additional 10,844 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $8.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,636,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,497,879. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.08 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.20. The firm has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.90, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.66.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.14%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Barclays raised their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.88.

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.