Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Stake Lessened by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,214 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,882 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $190,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% during the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after purchasing an additional 190,996 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.8% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,343 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 4,534 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 35.1% during the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 4,562 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 37.6% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,445 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 3,950 shares during the period. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter valued at $872,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WBA. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Four equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 4.3 %

WBA stock opened at $8.29 on Wednesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.20 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The company has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of -0.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 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 Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -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.