Swiss National Bank Sells 63,800 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,296,300 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after selling 63,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.27% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $59,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,927,656,000 after purchasing an additional 10,962,030 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $378,668,000 after buying an additional 3,013,807 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $279,876,000 after buying an additional 1,720,228 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,905,998 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $131,349,000 after buying an additional 212,161 shares during the period. Finally, 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 buying an additional 339,143 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 3.1 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $17.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,508,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,470,124. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $19.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.24 and a 52-week high of $32.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.54, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.79%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's payout ratio is -14.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on 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. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, TheStreet raised Walgreens Boots Alliance from a "d+" rating to a "c-" rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $24.36.

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.