Sasco Capital Inc. CT Raises Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Sasco Capital Inc. CT boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,041,440 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock after purchasing an additional 124,950 shares during the period. Sasco Capital Inc. CT owned about 0.12% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $9,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% in the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,947,000 after purchasing an additional 190,996 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 322,984 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 56,725 shares during the period. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth $1,215,000. Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.4% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 385,600 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 175,400 shares during the period. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,252,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

WBA stock traded down $0.37 on Tuesday, hitting $8.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,436,876 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,430,842. The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.20 and a 1 year high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.06%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -9.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company 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.