The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases 135,343 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 572,192 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 135,343 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.07% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $5,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% during the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, First Personal Financial Services raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 3,300 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WBA. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of WBA stock traded up $0.09 on Friday, reaching $8.56. 15,896,178 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,677,024. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $27.05. The stock has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a PE ratio of -0.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $9.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.93.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.68%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.99%.

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.