Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) has earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment 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. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $12.58.

WBA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $9.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -0.92, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.14. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $26.41.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The company had revenue of $37.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.75 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.88%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $385,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569,223 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,969,188 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $98,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,329,857 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC grew its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 98.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 6,021,126 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $72,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,992,648 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the third quarter worth $24,226,000. Finally, Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the second quarter worth $31,028,000. Hedge funds and other 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.