Capital Investment Counsel Inc Decreases Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc reduced its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 75.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,790 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 36,565 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 308.4% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,241.8% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2,314.5% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Finally, Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,235,859.22. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 1.8 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $18.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.55 billion, a PE ratio of -2.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.72. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.49 and a 12 month high of $35.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on WBA. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, April 1st. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

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.