Wellington Management Group LLP Buys 127,558 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 193.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 193,526 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 127,558 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. First Personal Financial Services lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.3% in the second quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 3,300 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 250.0% during the second quarter. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,500 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $9.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.97, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.60. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.31%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on WBA shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.