Symmetry Investments LP Takes $253,000 Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Symmetry Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 20,900 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA opened at $8.71 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of -1.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.46 and a 52 week high of $27.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is -14.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on WBA. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America decreased their target price 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. TD Cowen cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance 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.