Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 19,508 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 109,683 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 19,508 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $2,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 153,740 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $4,014,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 224.7% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 46,724 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after buying an additional 32,336 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at about $332,000. Blue Chip Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth about $116,000. Finally, Vance Wealth Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth about $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WBA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, April 1st. TD Cowen cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $17.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.53. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.24 and a 12 month high of $32.89. The firm has a market cap of $14.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.76%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.29%.

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.