Acadian Asset Management LLC Acquires 14,455 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 1,444.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,456 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,455 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth about $333,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth about $297,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 78,523 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 373.3% in the 1st quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 112,398 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,438,000 after acquiring an additional 88,650 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.3% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 301,910 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,883,000 after purchasing an additional 40,095 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective 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. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $8.71 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.29 and a 200-day moving average of $14.77. The firm has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of -1.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.46 and a twelve month high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The company had revenue of $36.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.48%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.84%.

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.