Choreo LLC Grows Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Choreo LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 224.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 46,724 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,336 shares during the period. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,927,656,000 after acquiring an additional 10,962,030 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $378,668,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013,807 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $279,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,228 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,905,998 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $131,349,000 after acquiring an additional 212,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $80,349,000 after acquiring an additional 339,143 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WBA shares. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, February 26th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Bank of America reduced their price target 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. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $17.73 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.49 and a fifty-two week high of $35.36. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.68.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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 $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.64%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.29%.

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.