Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $13.00 to $12.00. The stock had previously closed at $11.46, but opened at $9.95. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Walgreens Boots Alliance shares last traded at $9.69, with a volume of 17,331,138 shares traded.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $19.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.19.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 436,849 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $5,284,000 after purchasing an additional 8,973 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 132,456 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 31,772 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 4.4% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 364,734 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,411,000 after purchasing an additional 15,270 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 2nd quarter valued at about $313,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance during the second quarter worth approximately $958,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 10.3 %

The company has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.87.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 10th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.13. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.87% and a positive return on equity of 17.61%. The firm had revenue of $39.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

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.