Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 1,126 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,490 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,126 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $587,000 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 business. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 116.3% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,216 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 177,399 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,632,000 after buying an additional 6,810 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 469,612 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $12,262,000 after buying an additional 129,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,610 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,896,000 after buying an additional 15,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $17.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $15.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.62. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.25 and a fifty-two week high of $32.89.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid 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 5.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WBA shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. SVB Leerink lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Bank of America cut their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.