Virtu Financial LLC Invests $208,000 in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 23,174 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $385,258,000 after purchasing an additional 6,569,223 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,329,857 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.1% in the 3rd 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 worth $68,046,000 after acquiring an additional 817,762 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,955,880 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $62,325,000 after acquiring an additional 934,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.5% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,258,919 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $29,200,000 after purchasing an additional 80,525 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price 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. Barclays raised their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $9.70 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.08 and a 1 year high of $27.05. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.60. The company has a market cap of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion for 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%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. 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.