Lincluden Management Ltd. Boosts Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Lincluden Management Ltd. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,644 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $2,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WBA. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,085 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 60.4% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 99,661 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 26,093 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inlet Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Inlet Private Wealth LLC now owns 47,820 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA opened at $9.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.22 and a one year high of $27.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $9.22 and a 200 day moving average of $12.57.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.57%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WBA. Bank of America lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

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.