OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 35.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,543 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,807 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter valued at $33,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen cut 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $9.03 on Thursday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.22 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a PE ratio of -0.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

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.