FORA Capital LLC Invests $4.73 Million in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 527,583 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $4,727,000. FORA Capital LLC owned 0.06% of Walgreens Boots Alliance as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% during the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,947,000 after purchasing an additional 190,996 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 340,431 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,050,000 after buying an additional 64,586 shares during the period. Sasco Capital Inc. CT boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.6% in the third quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT now owns 1,041,440 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $9,331,000 after acquiring an additional 124,950 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 322,984 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,019,000 after acquiring an additional 56,725 shares during the period. Finally, Scientech Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 3.6 %

WBA stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $8.73. The company had a trading volume of 17,438,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,856,136. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.68. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $27.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.39.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WBA. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.88.

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.