Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Disappointing Earnings

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $11.93 and last traded at $11.94, with a volume of 16202467 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.66.

The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $36.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.94 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is -14.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WBA shares. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.64.

Insider Activity

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, CFO Manmohan Mahajan bought 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value of $116,280.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 166,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,235,859.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari bought 3,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Manmohan Mahajan acquired 6,000 shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.38 per share, with a total value 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 approximately $3,235,859.22. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 268.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 184,722 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $4,108,000 after purchasing an additional 134,587 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 39.2% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 75,776 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,685,000 after purchasing an additional 21,352 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 44.7% during the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 23,072 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 7,132 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.4% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 323,817 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $7,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 106.5% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 49,720 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 25,637 shares during the period. 58.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

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.