Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 64.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,455 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 20,703 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth about $7,389,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 248,154 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $6,479,000 after acquiring an additional 63,432 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 92.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 31,488 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $822,000 after acquiring an additional 15,084 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 115,196 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,008,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 110.0% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of WBA stock opened at $17.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $14.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.46, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.13 and a 1 year high of $32.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.50.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.80%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on WBA. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased 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. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

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.