Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Acquired by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 235.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 776,787 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 545,226 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $6,960,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% during the second 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 last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5,392.5% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,911 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 2,858 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $9.02 on Monday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $27.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a market cap of $7.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.69.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.09%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. 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 research report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.