2. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42
Dividend Yield (as of March 8): 4.02%
Then there’s Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA), a drug retail company which operates a large network of pharmacies in the United States under the Walgreens and Duane Reade brands. It posted a quarterly dividend of $0.4775 per share on January 27, which was in-line with previous. As of March 8, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) provides a 4.02% yield to its shareholders, and has paid dividends for over 30 years.
In January, Mizuho analyst Ann Hynes raised the price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) to $56 from $51 and reiterated a ‘Neutral’ rating on the shares, citing an increased outlook of COVID testing and vaccine benefits for the increase in target price. In March the company announced that it had partnered with Labcorp (NYSE:LH) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide free Covid testing kits at home to deserving individuals throughout the United States.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:WBA) Q4 earnings per share came in at $1.68, above analysts’ estimates by $0.34. The company’s revenue for the fourth quarter stood at $33.90 billion, outperforming analysts’ forecasts by $946.75 million.
Hedge fund sentiment was up on Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the fourth quarter, where 42 hedge funds recorded bullish bets on the company shares, as compared to 37 in the quarter before. Camber Capital Management held the biggest stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in Q4 2021, consisting of 3.5 million shares valued at $182.56 million.
Here is what Miller Howard Investments had to say about Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in its Q3 2021 investor letter:
“While optimistic about a recovery, we continue to balance our cyclical holdings with dividend-payers in stable, less economically-sensitive industries. We took a position in Walgreens (WBA) based on its low valuation, high dividend yield, and stable business model.”
