Monarch Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,847 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 8,550 shares during the quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $801,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,444.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 15,456 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 14,455 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter worth about $655,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.2% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 217,597 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 25,439 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 52,400 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $633,000 after acquiring an additional 8,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 68,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.27.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $12.52 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.86. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.08 and a 52-week high of $23.76. 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 (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The company had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid 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 7.99%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -9.77%.

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.