Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Holdings Boosted by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 66,183 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,153 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% in the third quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 114,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,547,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,796,000 after buying an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,524 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,882,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,288,370. The company has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.22 and a 1-year high of $32.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.53.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.78%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at $3,235,859.22. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

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.