Two Sigma Advisers LP Purchases New Shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,703,800 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $24,226,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned approximately 0.31% of Walgreens Boots Alliance at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $385,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569,223 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $98,284,000 after buying an additional 3,329,857 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% in the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $72,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,992,648 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter valued at $31,028,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,594,475 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $68,046,000 after acquiring an additional 817,762 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WBA. Truist Financial cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of WBA opened at $8.56 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.66. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $27.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.93.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.68%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.99%.

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.