Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.36.

Several equities analysts have commented on WBA shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Monday, April 1st.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ WBA opened at $16.47 on Thursday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1-year low of $16.31 and a 1-year high of $32.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a PE ratio of -2.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.23.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.38. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.18% and a positive return on equity of 12.11%. The business had revenue of $37.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.05 per share, with a total value of $54,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,150. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.38 per share, for a total transaction of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 114,506 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,547,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,796,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 11,866 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.