Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Has $5.52 Million Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 92.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 211,563 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after acquiring an additional 101,740 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC's holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $5,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% during the 3rd 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 raised its stake 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 worth $279,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,228 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,985.1% in the fourth 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 boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 85.1% in the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 1,752,170 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $38,968,000 after acquiring an additional 805,332 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $18.18. The stock had a trading volume of 7,482,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,878,590. The business has a fifty day moving average of $18.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.33. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.12 and a fifty-two week high of $32.89. The firm has a market cap of $15.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.60, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.80. 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 (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders 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 5.50%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of the business'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 owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WBA. UBS Group cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. SVB Leerink dropped their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 18th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.