GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 20,835 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 253.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,069 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,835 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8,670.3% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,208 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 250.0% in the 2nd quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WBA. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment 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, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA stock opened at $9.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $25.87. The company has a market cap of $8.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.93.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.34%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

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.