Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 10,679 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lessened its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,856 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 10,679 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% in the first quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Shilanski & Associates Inc. grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 11,821 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,085 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,124 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.1% in the first quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,335 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $810,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $8.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.72. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.46 and a one year high of $27.05. The firm has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of -1.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on 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 lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.