Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Trading Down 0.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) fell 0.2% during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $12.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Walgreens Boots Alliance traded as low as $11.40 and last traded at $11.56. 6,279,908 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 14,500,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.58.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on WBA. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $11.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $35.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Walgreens Boots Alliance news, Director Inderpal S. Bhandari acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.05 per share, for a total transaction of $54,150.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,150. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 17.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WBA. Highlander Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1,241.8% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,060 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 58.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 4.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.95.

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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is presently -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.