CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Increases Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,318,849 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 113,933 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.15% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $28,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,448,648 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $481,694,000 after acquiring an additional 4,163,317 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,519,845 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $170,233,000 after purchasing an additional 613,847 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in 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 valued at $80,349,000 after purchasing an additional 339,143 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,249,654 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $58,738,000 after purchasing an additional 27,634 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,732,428 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $45,062,000 after purchasing an additional 197,370 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 3.1 %

WBA stock opened at $11.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of -1.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.06 and its 200 day moving average is $18.31. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.69 and a 12 month high of $31.32.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on WBA. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.86.

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.