Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $15.85.

WBA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $30.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $11.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $9.38 on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12 month low of $9.14 and a 12 month high of $27.05. The stock has a market cap of $8.10 billion, a PE ratio of -1.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $11.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.28.

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

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.66%. 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

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. abrdn plc lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 70.9% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 301,955 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,884,000 after purchasing an additional 125,232 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $122,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 79,212 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,012 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 48,065 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 5,687 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 18,389 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. 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.