M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Takes $195,000 Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 20,850 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $195,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 73,349 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $684,000 after acquiring an additional 3,859 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 128.5% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,228 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 13,061 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.1% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 4,757 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth $326,000. Finally, Smith Anglin Financial LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $194,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WBA. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.27.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of WBA opened at $12.52 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.83. The stock has a market cap of $10.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.64. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $23.76.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.77%.

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.