$32.11 Billion in Sales Expected for Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) This Quarter

Equities research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Rating) will announce sales of $32.11 billion for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks Investment Research reports. Six analysts have provided estimates for Walgreens Boots Alliance’s earnings. The lowest sales estimate is $30.75 billion and the highest is $34.16 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance posted sales of $34.03 billion during the same quarter last year, which suggests a negative year-over-year growth rate of 5.6%. The company is scheduled to report its next quarterly earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will report full-year sales of $132.35 billion for the current fiscal year, with estimates ranging from $130.39 billion to $135.44 billion. For the next financial year, analysts forecast that the business will post sales of $133.04 billion, with estimates ranging from $125.14 billion to $136.08 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of analysts that that provide coverage for Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 31st. The pharmacy operator reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.20. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a return on equity of 19.15% and a net margin of 4.62%. The firm had revenue of $33.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $33.33 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis.

WBA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TheStreet cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird cut Walgreens Boots Alliance from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $70.00 to $51.00 in a report on Friday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $54.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 1st. Finally, Cowen decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $55.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.71.

NASDAQ:WBA traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $43.55. 5,781,469 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,802,335. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.47 and its 200-day moving average is $47.93. The stock has a market cap of $37.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1-year low of $41.80 and a 1-year high of $55.96.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 20th will be given a $0.4775 dividend. This represents a $1.91 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 19th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.34%.

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 6,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $900,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 52,854,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,928,230,050. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 57,751,600 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,585,537,000 after purchasing an additional 2,719,081 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,910,838 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $2,446,869,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224,617 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 21,522,395 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,122,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,083 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,332,488 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $641,900,000 after purchasing an additional 320,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,522,181 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $444,518,000 after purchasing an additional 83,683 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance (Get Rating)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc operates as a pharmacy-led health and beauty retail company. It operates through two segments, the United States and International. The United States segment sells prescription drugs and an assortment of retail products, including health, wellness, beauty, personal care, consumable, and general merchandise products through its retail drugstores.

Featured Stories