Versant Capital Management Inc Boosts Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 5,392.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,911 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 2,858 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $35,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% in the first quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 11,821 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,085 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 6,757 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $176,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.86.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 1.2 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $11.04. 2,653,380 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,669,983. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.56. The company has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a PE ratio of -1.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.62 and a fifty-two week high of $29.85.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.06%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.84%.

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.