Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 280,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $3,387,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Symmetry Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter worth $253,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 216.6% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 85,192 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,030,000 after buying an additional 58,281 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter worth $385,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.4% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 308,736 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,734,000 after buying an additional 24,041 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 60.7% in the second quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 24,220 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 9,144 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays decreased 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. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $8.53 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $10.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.50. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.46 and a 1 year high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued 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 11.72%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is -14.84%.

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.