Scientech Research LLC Acquires New Shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 100,433 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,215,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 282.1% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,219 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 260.0% during the first quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 1,800 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WBA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target 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. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $9.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.33. The stock has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.34, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.22 and a fifty-two week high of $27.05.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The company had revenue of $36.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.04%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.