Lazard Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 1,331.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 295,685 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after buying an additional 275,033 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $6,413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 278,357 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,268,000 after purchasing an additional 95,828 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 115.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,775 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at about $273,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 8,384 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WBA. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.86.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WBA opened at $11.82 on Monday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.69 and a 12-month high of $30.79. The company has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of -1.75, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $13.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.46%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -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.