Everett Harris & Co. CA Sells 1,500 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Everett Harris & Co. CA cut its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,749 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 29,409 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,170,347 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $48,269,000 after buying an additional 576,534 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 129,191 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,873,000 after buying an additional 28,400 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,444,686 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,130,000 after buying an additional 47,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 66,949,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,907,403,000 after buying an additional 3,543,790 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 3.2 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $21.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 32,844,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,950,183. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.68 and a fifty-two week high of $36.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.28.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 0.40%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 151.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett purchased 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,992.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,992.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.22 per share, for a total transaction of $242,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 585,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,171,654.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WBA. Bank of America dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, SVB Leerink decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

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.