Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Up 0.8% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) were up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $9.45 and last traded at $9.28. Approximately 7,255,371 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 16,396,076 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WBA shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.54.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Up 6.2 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last released its 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 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The firm had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 60.4% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.