GAMMA Investing LLC Buys Shares of 4,675 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,675 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $122,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,927,656,000 after buying an additional 10,962,030 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $378,668,000 after buying an additional 3,013,807 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $279,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,228 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,985.1% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 889,546 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $23,226,000 after purchasing an additional 846,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,752,170 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $38,968,000 after purchasing an additional 805,332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 13,456 shares of company stock valued at $270,423. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WBA. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $17.70 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.49 and a 1-year high of $35.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.77.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

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.