AIA Group Ltd Trims Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

AIA Group Ltd reduced its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,723 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 6,334 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Redwood Investment Management LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.9% in the first quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 99,661 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 26,093 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $566,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,820 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel Inc lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.6% in the second quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 15,340 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $9.07 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.22 and a one year high of $27.05. The company has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of -0.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.69.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.