Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. Acquires New Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 179,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,679,000. Walgreens Boots Alliance makes up approximately 2.6% of Deane Retirement Strategies Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 27,527 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 2,765 shares in the last quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,676 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 278,357 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,268,000 after acquiring an additional 95,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 499,883 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $13,052,000 after purchasing an additional 78,096 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.22 per share, with a total value of $242,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 585,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,171,654.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $350,567.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.22 per share, with a total value of $242,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 585,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,171,654.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA traded up $0.29 on Thursday, reaching $21.31. 19,168,523 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,694,910. The stock has a market cap of $18.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $21.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.29. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.68 and a twelve month high of $36.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 10.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is 151.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WBA shares. SVB Leerink lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Barclays assumed coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

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.