Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Shares Up 2.2%

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) was up 2.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $8.52 and last traded at $8.43. Approximately 5,155,540 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 16,262,313 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WBA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $17.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $20.00 to $13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.73.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $10.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.33. The firm has a market cap of $7.82 billion, a PE ratio of -1.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $36.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.00 EPS. As a group, equities 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.04%. Walgreens Boots Alliance’s payout ratio is -14.84%.

Institutional Trading of Walgreens Boots Alliance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlas Brown Inc. boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 31,593 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $685,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Shilanski & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 5.3% in the first quarter. Shilanski & Associates Inc. now owns 11,821 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 32,085 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the period. Buckley Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 2.1% in the first quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 37,335 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 60.4% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,130 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

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.