Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Purchases 33,629 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 73.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,108 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,629 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $9.39 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.22 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The firm has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.94, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.69. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.65%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is -9.99%.

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.