Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) PT Lowered to $19.00

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $21.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the pharmacy operator’s stock.

WBA has been the topic of several other reports. Raymond James reiterated a market perform rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $23.07.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock opened at $15.91 on Monday. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a 1 year low of $14.62 and a 1 year high of $31.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $16.80 and its 200 day moving average is $20.41. The stock has a market cap of $13.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.27, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 28th. The pharmacy operator reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Walgreens Boots Alliance will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.29%.

Insider Transactions at Walgreens Boots Alliance

In other news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $54,150. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan purchased 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were acquired 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 owns 166,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 14.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 86,675,198 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,927,656,000 after buying an additional 10,962,030 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 57.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 29,061,021 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $630,334,000 after acquiring an additional 10,612,373 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,584,371 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $279,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,720,228 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,519,845 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $170,233,000 after purchasing an additional 613,847 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 3,077,336 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $80,349,000 after purchasing an additional 339,143 shares during the last quarter. 58.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.