Hilltop Holdings Inc. Has $158,000 Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Hilltop Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,690 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 5,909 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WBA. Inlet Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% in the second quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,820 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 15,340 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $186,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position 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 valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.6% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 65,690 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,215 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $8.56 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.86, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.16 and a 200-day moving average of $10.89. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.08 and a 1-year high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America dropped 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 report on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.58.

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.