Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Purchases 8,031 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 16.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,647 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,031 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 322,984 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,019,000 after acquiring an additional 56,725 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter valued at $1,215,000. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.4% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 385,600 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 175,400 shares in the last quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,252,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $24,660,000 after buying an additional 198,891 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WBA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on 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 decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Four investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 3.7 %

WBA stock opened at $8.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.69. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.90. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.22 and a 1-year high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.79%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s 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.