Victory Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 364,665 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 778,230 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $3,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 16.1% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,753 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 295,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $6,399,000 after buying an additional 40,000 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,331.7% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 295,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $6,413,000 after buying an additional 275,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 141.8% in the 1st quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 169,502 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,676,000 after purchasing an additional 99,400 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $8.66 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.55. The firm has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of -0.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.69. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.08 and a 12-month high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

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.