Altrius Capital Management Inc Buys 190,996 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Altrius Capital Management Inc grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 76.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 190,996 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc owned approximately 0.05% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $3,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WBA. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $630,334,000 after acquiring an additional 10,612,373 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $72,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,718,659 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $32,882,000 after purchasing an additional 156,484 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,028,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $24,660,000 after buying an additional 198,891 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,137,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,373,150. The company has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.87, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $9.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.97. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.22 and a 12-month high of $27.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance's payout ratio is -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.