Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Up 5.4% – Still a Buy?

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shot up 5.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $10.36 and last traded at $10.26. 17,119,011 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 5% from the average session volume of 17,995,471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.79. The stock has a market cap of $8.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.97, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. 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 $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -9.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WBA. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 54.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 321,425 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,893,000 after buying an additional 113,242 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the third quarter worth $92,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 46,333 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 20,450 shares during the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter valued at about $130,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,587 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.