Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Down 0.8%

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) fell 0.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $8.97 and last traded at $8.99. 1,947,555 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 16,043,037 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WBA. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Trading Down 0.3 %

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 $7.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.85.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 negative net margin of 3.99% and a positive return on equity of 12.63%. The company had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.14%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $685,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Shilanski & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 11,821 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,085 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,124 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,335 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $810,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.