HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Takes Position in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) (2024)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 80,195 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock, valued at approximately $2,094,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $1,927,656,000 after buying an additional 10,962,030 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,448,648 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $481,694,000 after purchasing an additional 4,163,317 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 21.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,026,420 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $378,668,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,807 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock worth $279,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,720,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,519,845 shares of the pharmacy operator's stock valued at $170,233,000 after buying an additional 613,847 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.59% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WBA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, SVB Leerink lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Walgreens Boots Alliance presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.57.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on WBA

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 166,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company's stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WBA traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.11. 19,148,786 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,492,978. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.62 and a twelve month high of $32.89. The firm has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.30, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $16.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $37.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.11% and a negative net margin of 4.18%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.21%. Walgreens Boots Alliance's payout ratio is -14.29%.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

(Free Report)

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.

Featured Stories

• Five stocks we like better than Walgreens Boots Alliance
• TSX Venture Exchange (Formerly Canadian Venture Exchange)
• Outlook Therapeutics: Analysts Forecast Over 500% Stock Upside
• Should You Add These Warren Buffett Stocks to Your Portfolio?
• Campbell Soup Co. Targets Fiscal Q4 Stock Recovery
• Zebra Analysts Upgrade Stock, Forecasting Major Reversal

Should you invest $1,000 in Walgreens Boots Alliance right now?

Before you consider Walgreens Boots Alliance, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Walgreens Boots Alliance wasn't on the list.

While Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a "Reduce" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here