IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 3,740 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,527 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $630,334,000 after buying an additional 10,612,373 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,826,000 after buying an additional 2,992,648 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,028,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter valued at $16,365,000. Finally, Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter valued at $13,710,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on WBA shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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 research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $9.26 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.31 and a 200-day moving average of $12.73. The company has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.37, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.70. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.22 and a 52 week high of $27.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company 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.