Brown Advisory Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Brown Advisory Inc. decreased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,714 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 6,055 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% in the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 114,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,547,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,796,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the period. Insight Folios Inc increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $15.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $18.56 and its 200 day moving average is $21.20. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.89 and a twelve month high of $32.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.27%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $20.00 price target (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, SVB Leerink dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Four investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

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.