Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys 20,450 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 79.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 46,333 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,450 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $98,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,329,857 shares in the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after purchasing an additional 190,996 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.4% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 340,431 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 64,586 shares in the last quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.6% during the third quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT now owns 1,041,440 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,331,000 after purchasing an additional 124,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 82.8% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 139,377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 63,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $9.68 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.36. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $27.05. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The company had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.33%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -9.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WBA shares. UBS Group upped 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America decreased 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance 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.