Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Bought by Y.D. More Investments Ltd

Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 110.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $55,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 114,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,796,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,524 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $17.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.66. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.25 and a fifty-two week high of $33.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.04 billion, a PE ratio of -2.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.65.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.74%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.36.

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.