Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 608,367 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $5,451,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 3,300 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WBA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $8.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a PE ratio of -0.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.08 and a twelve month high of $27.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.93.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.