Federated Hermes Inc. Has $587,000 Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,490 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,126 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,235,859.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was bought 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 directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on WBA. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. SVB Leerink dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Four investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $17.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.54, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $19.67 and a 200-day moving average of $21.62. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.25 and a 1 year high of $32.89.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

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.