Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price Down 2.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) dropped 2.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $13.00 to $9.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Walgreens Boots Alliance traded as low as $11.76 and last traded at $11.77. Approximately 8,344,530 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the average daily volume of 14,350,210 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.10.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on WBA. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Friday. Barclays reduced their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $21.00 to $19.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.64.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 107,071 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Insight Folios Inc lifted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 9,640 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $685,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its stake 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 valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 6,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $16.49 and a 200-day moving average of $20.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.75, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.72.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $36.40 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Research analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.50%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.84%.

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.