Rakuten Securities Inc. Grows Stock Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 126.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 239,816 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 133,684 shares during the period. Walgreens Boots Alliance comprises approximately 0.9% of Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $2,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $630,334,000 after purchasing an additional 10,612,373 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during 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 last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.1% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,718,659 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $32,882,000 after purchasing an additional 156,484 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,028,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,038,878 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $24,660,000 after buying an additional 198,891 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on WBA. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on 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. UBS Group increased their target price 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. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $9.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a PE ratio of -0.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $9.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.08. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.22 and a 52 week high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders 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 10.65%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.