Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Sold by Columbia Asset Management

Columbia Asset Management trimmed its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 14.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,287 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 6,238 shares during the period. Columbia Asset Management’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $8.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.73. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.46 and a fifty-two week high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 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 Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.44%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.19.

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.