Capital Investment Counsel Inc Cuts Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc cut its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 75.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,790 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 36,565 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 29,409 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 36.2% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,170,347 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $48,269,000 after purchasing an additional 576,534 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 129,191 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,873,000 after purchasing an additional 28,400 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,444,686 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,130,000 after purchasing an additional 47,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,927,656,000 after buying an additional 10,962,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $18.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $15.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.57, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.72. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.49 and a 12-month high of $35.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.55%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on WBA. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. TheStreet raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. SVB Leerink cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.36.

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.