Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Reduces Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lessened its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 9.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,647 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 8,000 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $2,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Texas Yale Capital Corp. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 12,253 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.6% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,084 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.9% during the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,266 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Private Ocean LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 65.6% during the first quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 757 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 63,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,842,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $38.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.23.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 2.6 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $22.48 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $21.39 and a one year high of $42.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.60 and a 200 day moving average of $31.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.07 by ($0.07). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.62% and a negative net margin of 2.44%. The business had revenue of $35.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 21st were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 18th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.54%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John Patrick Driscoll bought 5,172 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.42 per share, with a total value of $146,988.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,678,201. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc operates as a pharmacy-led health and beauty retail company. It operates through two segments, the United States and International. The United States segment sells prescription drugs and an assortment of retail products, including health, wellness, beauty, personal care, consumable, and general merchandise products through its retail drugstores.