Investors Purchase Large Volume of Walgreens Boots Alliance Call Options (NASDAQ:WBA)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 29,396 call options on the stock. Thisrepresentsanincreaseof88% compared to the average volume of 15,651 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on WBA. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen began coverage on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.59.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 2,928 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 135.8% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,152 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

WBA stock traded down $0.0550 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $11.9150. 18,806,188 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,604,021. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a one year low of $8.08 and a one year high of $13.25. The stock has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 4.07% and a positive return on equity of 17.66%. The firm had revenue of $38.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Walgreens Boots Alliance

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.