Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 45,357 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 856,541 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,357 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.10% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $24,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Robinson Value Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.7% during the second quarter. Robinson Value Management Ltd. now owns 108,221 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. Kiltearn Partners LLP now owns 1,634,200 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $46,558,000 after acquiring an additional 279,400 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.0% during the second quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 95,332 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,716,000 after acquiring an additional 2,756 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.1% during the second quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 65,153 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 3,177 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 22.1% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 55,517 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 10,030 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WBA shares. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $34.00 to $27.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.15.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $21.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of -5.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.80. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.00 and a 52 week high of $42.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.02). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 2.21% and a positive return on equity of 12.31%. The business had revenue of $35.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.13%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -53.78%.

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.