Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 8,624 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,528 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 8,624 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,927,656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,962,030 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $378,668,000 after buying an additional 3,013,807 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $279,876,000 after buying an additional 1,720,228 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,905,998 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $131,349,000 after buying an additional 212,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $80,349,000 after buying an additional 339,143 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett acquired 4,456 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,992.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Valerie B. Jarrett purchased 4,456 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $22.44 per share, with a total value of $99,992.64. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,456 shares in the company, valued at $99,992.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 13,456 shares of company stock valued at $270,423 in the last 90 days. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WBA. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $17.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.49 and a 12 month high of $35.38.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.65%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

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.