Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. Sells 140,052 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C. lessened its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 86.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,525 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 140,052 shares during the period. Arkfeld Wealth Strategies L.L.C.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 10,962,030 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,448,648 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $481,694,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163,317 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $279,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,228 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,519,845 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $170,233,000 after purchasing an additional 613,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $80,349,000 after purchasing an additional 339,143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.07.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,713,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,098,791. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.36. The company has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of -2.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.78. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.62 and a 52 week high of $31.32.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion during 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%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.39%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

Insider Activity

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

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.