A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires New Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)

A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,000 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock, valued at approximately $93,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 76.6% during the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 440,483 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after acquiring an additional 190,996 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 23.4% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 340,431 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 64,586 shares during the last quarter. Sasco Capital Inc. CT increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.6% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 82.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 139,377 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 63,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 21.8 %

Walgreens Boots Alliance stock traded up $2.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $11.23. The company had a trading volume of 56,352,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,640,979. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.21 and its 200-day moving average is $9.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.64. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.08 and a fifty-two week high of $24.93. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. 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 $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research 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 was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on WBA shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.58.

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.