Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 2,858 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 5,392.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,911 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,858 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,494 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $333,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 115,196 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,008,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 280,545 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,325,000 after purchasing an additional 78,523 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA traded up $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.04. 2,653,380 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,669,983. The company has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a PE ratio of -1.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.56. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.62 and a 1 year high of $29.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.06%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WBA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.86.

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.