Altrius Capital Management Inc Has $3.95 Million Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 76.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 190,996 shares during the quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $3,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the second quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine 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 price target of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $8.57. The company had a trading volume of 5,021,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,296,098. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.97. The stock has a market cap of $7.41 billion, a PE ratio of -0.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.37. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.22 and a 1-year high of $27.05.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.67%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -9.99%.

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.