Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 45,950,000 shares, a drop of 27.0% from the February 28th total of 62,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 25,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 6.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.2 %

WBA stock opened at $11.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.93. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 12 month low of $8.08 and a 12 month high of $21.74.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 17.61% and a negative net margin of 5.87%. The firm had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WBA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $11.00 to $9.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.59.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,335,084 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $805,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,279,495 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 18.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 42,997,580 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $385,258,000 after acquiring an additional 6,569,223 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,572,567 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $303,902,000 after acquiring an additional 2,631,332 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 20,779,254 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $194,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,587 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,155,138 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $122,737,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,950 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.