Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 3.200-3.350 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 3.240. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Walgreens Boots Alliance also updated its FY24 guidance to $3.20-3.35 EPS.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

Shares of WBA stock opened at $21.94 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.29. The company has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a twelve month low of $19.68 and a twelve month high of $36.58.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 0.40%. The firm had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is currently 151.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WBA shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays started coverage on Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an underweight rating and a $21.00 price objective for the company. SVB Leerink decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 18th. HSBC restated a reduce rating and set a $20.00 price objective (down previously from $27.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an underperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $25.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $350,567.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Nancy M. Schlichting sold 15,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $350,567.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy C. Wentworth purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $24.22 per share, for a total transaction of $242,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 585,122 shares in the company, valued at $14,171,654.84. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WBA. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently 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.