Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Sells 8,809 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 295,189 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 8,809 shares during the period. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $7,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WBA. Highlander Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,241.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 308.4% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of 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. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $20.00 target price (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. SVB Leerink reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.36.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA stock traded down $0.16 on Friday, hitting $18.18. 7,455,580 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,059,903. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $18.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.34. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $17.12 and a one year high of $32.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.68 billion, a PE ratio of -2.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

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.