Financial Partners Group LLC Purchases 2,021 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Financial Partners Group LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,317 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,021 shares during the period. Financial Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $1,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,927,656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,962,030 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,448,648 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $481,694,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163,317 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $279,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,228 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $80,349,000 after purchasing an additional 339,143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $12.10. The stock had a trading volume of 54,346,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,649,060. The firm has a market cap of $10.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.79, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.78. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.68 and a 12 month high of $31.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.49 and a 200 day moving average of $20.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The company had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.27%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is -14.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. SVB Leerink lowered their price target on shares of 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. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Friday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.64.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.38 per share, with a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.38 per share, with a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.