Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $11.88 Million Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 21.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 454,780 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 124,391 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of Walgreens Boots Alliance worth $11,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 29,409 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 36.2% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,170,347 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $48,269,000 after purchasing an additional 576,534 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 129,191 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,873,000 after acquiring an additional 28,400 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,444,686 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $32,130,000 after purchasing an additional 47,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,927,656,000 after buying an additional 10,962,030 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $17.81 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.59 and its 200-day moving average is $21.59. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.25 and a 1-year high of $32.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $15.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WBA. Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

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.