Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Receives $16.86 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.86.

WBA has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ WBA opened at $10.72 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.72. The company has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1 year low of $10.62 and a 1 year high of $30.15.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.33%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 21st. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $630,334,000 after buying an additional 10,612,373 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter valued at $29,816,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,985.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 889,546 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $23,226,000 after buying an additional 846,884 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter valued at $16,365,000. Finally, Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter valued at $13,710,000. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Company 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.