NorthRock Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

NorthRock Partners LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,851 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter worth about $1,215,000. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.4% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 385,600 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,455,000 after acquiring an additional 175,400 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% in the second 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 bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter worth about $795,000. Finally, Clifford Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 58.4% in the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 803,204 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,715,000 after acquiring an additional 296,135 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WBA. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA opened at $9.23 on Thursday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $8.22 and a 12-month high of $27.05. The stock has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.92, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average of $9.18 and a 200-day moving average of $12.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.83%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -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.