River Global Investors LLP Lowers Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

River Global Investors LLP cut its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 47.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,893 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 11,510 shares during the quarter. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 56.7% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,190,975 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $31,728,000 after acquiring an additional 430,760 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $261,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at about $206,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $7,389,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 248,154 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $6,479,000 after purchasing an additional 63,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ WBA traded down $0.42 on Monday, reaching $17.39. The stock had a trading volume of 6,262,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,406,888. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.58. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.25 and a 12-month high of $32.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

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.