Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,131 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,834 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 63,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.0% during the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 35,461 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,588,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.3% during the second quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 10,660 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.5% in the second quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 9,940 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $283,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 5,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 57.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $21.03 on Tuesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.00 and a 1-year high of $42.29. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 12th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.69 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $35.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.81 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 2.21% and a positive return on equity of 12.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.13%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -53.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WBA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $29.00 to $26.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Credit Suisse Group lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued 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 $33.15.

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.