Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $1.73 Million Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,183 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,927,656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,962,030 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $378,668,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,807 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $279,876,000 after buying an additional 1,720,228 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,905,998 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $131,349,000 after acquiring an additional 212,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $80,349,000 after purchasing an additional 339,143 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of WBA traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $17.30. 1,882,584 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,288,370. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.22 and a 12-month high of $32.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.53. The firm has a market cap of $14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.48, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued 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. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.78%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

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.