New York Life Investment Management LLC Purchases 690 Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 115,196 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $3,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,796,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,524 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,389 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $480,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. 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 report on Monday, April 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, April 1st. SVB Leerink lowered 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. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $20.00 target price (down from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.36.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $17.81 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.58. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.25 and a 1 year high of $32.89.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.61%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

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

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.