MCF Advisors LLC Buys 3,665 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 117.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,792 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,665 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $61,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter worth about $34,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ WBA traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $9.26. 18,012,349 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,324,186. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $9.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.82. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.22 and a fifty-two week high of $27.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of -1.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.70.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 14.23% and a negative net margin of 5.85%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.80%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.84%.

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.