tru Independence LLC Has $838,000 Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

tru Independence LLC lowered its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 11.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,275 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 8,745 shares during the quarter. tru Independence LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% in the first quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $685,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 11,821 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,085 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 6,757 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $8.77 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.46 and a 1-year high of $27.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $10.75 and a 200-day moving average of $15.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.30, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.70.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WBA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.19.

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.