Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Sold by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,399 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 4,258 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $72,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,028,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter valued at $16,365,000. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,252,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter worth $6,642,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 3.6 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $8.73 on Wednesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $27.05. The stock has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of -0.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.13 and a 200 day moving average of $11.39.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th 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 11.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.99%.

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.