Raymond James & Associates Lowers Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Raymond James & Associates reduced its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 3.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 603,291 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 20,671 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $5,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,215,000. Ariel Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $24,660,000 after acquiring an additional 198,891 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $795,000. Clifford Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 58.4% during the 2nd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 803,204 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $9,715,000 after purchasing an additional 296,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 89.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 349,464 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,580,000 after acquiring an additional 165,389 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $9.46 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.22 and a one year high of $27.05. The stock has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.95, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.51.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.57%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WBA shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of 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. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

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.