Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Has $96,000 Holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,700 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock after selling 1,560 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance were worth $96,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after purchasing an additional 190,996 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 322,984 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,019,000 after purchasing an additional 56,725 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter worth $1,215,000. Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 83.4% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 385,600 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 175,400 shares during the period. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,252,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on WBA. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.88.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

NASDAQ WBA opened at $8.48 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.69. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.22 and a 1 year 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.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. 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 $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.99%.

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.