Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Acquired by Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,027 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 7,788 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WBA. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 29,409 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 115,196 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,008,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,170,347 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $48,269,000 after acquiring an additional 576,534 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 129,191 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,873,000 after acquiring an additional 28,400 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 10,962,030 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $18.18 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.12 and a 12 month high of $32.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.33. 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 cap of $15.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid 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 5.50%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WBA. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.