78,496 Shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Bought by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 78,496 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $630,334,000 after purchasing an additional 10,612,373 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,028,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at about $16,365,000. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,252,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $8.81 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.99. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.22 and a 12 month high of $27.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.88, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business 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 $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 11.35%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on WBA shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.