Tredje AP fonden Trims Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Tredje AP fonden cut its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,249 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $29,816,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at about $326,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 57,780 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,509,000 after buying an additional 3,449 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 280,545 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,325,000 after acquiring an additional 78,523 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA opened at $8.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $10.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.77. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.46 and a 52-week high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.73.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.