Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Free Report) shares traded down 4.1% on Thursday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $12.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Walgreens Boots Alliance traded as low as $11.10 and last traded at $11.10. 26,845,517 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 29% from the average session volume of 20,813,700 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.57.
Several other research firms have also commented on WBA. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.71.
Insider Activity
In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 221.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,275 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 7,769 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter worth $411,000. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 73.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 110,889 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 47,136 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 89.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 349,464 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $7,580,000 after purchasing an additional 165,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter worth $16,365,000. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 4.1 %
The company has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of -1.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65.
Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.87 earnings per share for the current year.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.01%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.84%.
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.