Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $4.13 Million Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,031 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 3,976 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $4,126,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WBA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 10,962,030 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $378,668,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,807 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $279,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,228 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,905,998 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $131,349,000 after purchasing an additional 212,161 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $80,349,000 after purchasing an additional 339,143 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Walgreens Boots Alliance

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 3.1 %

WBA stock opened at $17.26 on Tuesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.24 and a 1-year high of $32.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.79%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

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.