4,459 Shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Bought by Blue Chip Partners LLC

Blue Chip Partners LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,459 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $116,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 114,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,547,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,524 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the topic of several recent research reports. SVB Leerink decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $17.74 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $15.30 billion, a PE ratio of -2.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.76. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $17.49 and a one year high of $35.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company 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.