Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) Stock Price Down 5.6% on Analyst Downgrade

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA)’s share price dropped 5.6% on Tuesday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $14.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Walgreens Boots Alliance traded as low as $9.84 and last traded at $9.86. Approximately 10,648,625 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 17,130,785 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.45.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WBA. UBS Group upped their price objective on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $22.00 to $13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $7.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $11.00 to $7.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Walgreens Boots Alliance from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.21.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Walgreens Boots Alliance

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WBA. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 412.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 58,261 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 46,889 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Walgreens Boots Alliance in the first quarter valued at $339,000. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance by 81.9% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 14,024 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 6,315 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 17.4% during the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 52,166 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 7,738 shares during the period. Finally, G&S Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance by 8.5% during the first quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 29,148 shares of the pharmacy operator’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.59% of the company’s stock.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock Down 6.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $9.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The pharmacy operator reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.03. Walgreens Boots Alliance had a negative net margin of 5.85% and a positive return on equity of 14.23%. The business had revenue of $37.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $35.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.