23,174 Shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Acquired by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 23,174 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8,670.3% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,208 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on WBA shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA opened at $9.70 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.60. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $27.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a PE ratio of -0.97, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The company had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.31%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.99%.

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.