Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 17.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,607 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 3,103 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WBA. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $630,334,000 after acquiring an additional 10,612,373 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth about $29,816,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter worth about $16,365,000. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the first quarter worth about $13,710,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter worth about $6,642,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $9.21 on Monday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.46 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.51 and a 200-day moving average of $15.10. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.70.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The business had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WBA shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.