Sound Income Strategies LLC Boosts Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Rating) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 241,823 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 25,846 shares during the period. Walgreens Boots Alliance makes up 1.2% of Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $9,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,574,698 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,964,845,000 after purchasing an additional 818,403 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.9% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 58,812,727 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,846,720,000 after purchasing an additional 540,474 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 53,374,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,675,950,000 after purchasing an additional 3,095,684 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.0% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,635,840 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $239,764,000 after purchasing an additional 224,891 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,894,482 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $185,087,000 after purchasing an additional 549,167 shares during the period. 56.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cowen raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Loop Capital began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, November 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.43.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ WBA traded down $0.50 on Friday, hitting $32.91. 17,224,256 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,869,161. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.39 and a fifty-two week high of $48.62. The company has a market cap of $28.38 billion, a PE ratio of -9.57, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.45.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 5th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $33.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.04 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 2.24% and a positive return on equity of 13.57%. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 4.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 16th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.83%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -55.81%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Profile

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Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc engages in the provision of healthcare and retail pharmacy services. It operates through the following segments: United States Retail Pharmacy, International, and United States Healthcare. The US Retail Pharmacy segment includes the operation of retail drugstores, health and wellness services, specialty and home delivery pharmacy services, and equity method investment.