National Bank of Canada FI Buys 430,760 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 56.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,190,975 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 430,760 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.14% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $31,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at $261,000. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth about $206,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,389,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 248,154 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $6,479,000 after buying an additional 63,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 92.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 31,488 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $822,000 after buying an additional 15,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WBA. SVB Leerink decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, February 26th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. TheStreet raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 3.1 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $17.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.56. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.24 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.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued 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 business had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is -14.29%.

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.