Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Stock Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 260,037 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 12,953 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $2,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $385,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569,223 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,226,000. Finally, Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter worth $31,028,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ:WBA opened at $9.97 on Wednesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $27.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $9.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.61. The stock has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.03%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WBA shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.58.

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.