Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price Up 1.7%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) shares shot up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.29 and last traded at $9.16. 3,027,060 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 16,037,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WBA shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $10.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 0.2 %

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.89. The firm has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of -1.35, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.05). Walgreens Boots Alliance had a positive return on equity of 12.63% and a negative net margin of 3.99%. The business had revenue of $36.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.12%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.84%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 162.5% in the 2nd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,100 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,324 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 71.2% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.