Sunbelt Securities Inc. Boosts Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 46.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,228 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 24,062 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WBA. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $630,334,000 after buying an additional 10,612,373 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $72,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,992,648 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,028,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter worth approximately $16,365,000. Finally, Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter worth approximately $13,710,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $8.96 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.33, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.22 and a 52 week high of $27.05.

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.84%.

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.