Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 56.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,190,975 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 430,760 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.14% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $31,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WBA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake 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 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 valued at $279,876,000 after buying an additional 1,720,228 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,985.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 889,546 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $23,226,000 after acquiring an additional 846,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 85.1% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,752,170 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $38,968,000 after acquiring an additional 805,332 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA traded up $0.09 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.35. 8,925,995 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,419,146. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.97 billion, a PE ratio of -2.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $19.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.53. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.24 and a 12-month high of $32.89.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.76%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WBA has been the topic of several research reports. SVB Leerink reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. 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 dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Raymond James restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance 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.