Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 21.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 322,984 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 56,725 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $3,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 56.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,831 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 2,094 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 94.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 30,090 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,581 shares during the period. Lincluden Management Ltd. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 264,644 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the period. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter valued at about $125,000. Finally, Goldstone Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $124,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Bank of America lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $9.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.69. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.22 and a 1-year high of $27.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.21.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.03%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.99%.

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.